


Union

by rebel_wren



Series: Reunited [2]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Background Zeb/Kallus, Blind Kanan Jarrus, F/M, Family Dinners, Father-Son Relationship, Honeymoon, Kanan Jarrus is Alive, Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mother-Son Relationship, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Planet Ryloth | Twi'lek, Planet Yavin 4 (Star Wars), Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Rebels Epilogue, Post-Star Wars: Rebels, Weddings, talk of marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:10:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 42,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: Kanan is really settled into his post-war life with Hera and Jacen, and Hera has adjusted much more to Kanan being back with them all. They're ready to take some steps to move even further with their relationship, and life as a whole.This is a pure DOMESTIC FLUFF fic. That is it. This is my self-indulgent, fluffy, everyone-is-happy garbage.
Relationships: Hera Syndulla & Jacen Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus & Jacen Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Space Family (Star Wars Rebels)
Series: Reunited [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1517354
Comments: 61
Kudos: 198





	1. Discussion

“The civilian defense force has not reported any threats to the Yavin IV colony, Chancellor. Everything is secure in this sector, as far as I’ve heard” Hera said. “We’ve had agents monitoring old Imperial comm channels, and there hasn’t been any activity. I think they’re really gone.”

The blue hologram of Mon Mothma nodded. “Thank you, General Syndulla. Senator Organa, is there anything you have to say?”

Leia Organa’s hologram nodded as well, and began speaking about some trade disputes with the Hutt clan.

Hera was rarely called on anymore for these holo-meetings, especially ones with the Chancellor herself or senators, but she did find some comfort in the tediousness of them. As much as she loved peace, she was still more adjusted for the routines she went through during wartime.

Leia finished her statements, and then Mothma smiled.

“That didn’t take as long as I expected. We have a little more time. How are things for you, Senator? How’s your son?”

Leia smiled. “He’s doing well. Han has been staying home with him almost all the time since I got back to work. Things have been good.”

“That’s what I like to hear. General Syndulla, what about you?”

“Oh, Jacen is doing well too,” Hera said. “He loves having his father around.”

Leia smiled at her. “Yes, and how is Kanan?”

Hera smiled. “Wonderful. Jacen and I are glad he’s back, and so is Kanan. We’ve been spending a lot of time together. It’s been too long since we didn’t have the war between us- if we ever  _ didn’t _ have the war between us.”

Mothma chuckled. “Do I hear wedding chimes, General?”

“It’s flutes for Twi’leks, Chancellor, and- I don’t know. We said we’d talk about that, and then never did.”

“I think you should,” Leia said.

Hera just smiled at her. “We’ll see, Senator.”

Something beeped from Mothma’s end, and she sighed. “I have to get going. The consensus is that everything is going relatively okay? No galaxy-ending threats I need to worry about, no?”

“Not on my end,” Leia said.

“Mine either.”

“Good. Chancellor Mothma signing off.”

She bowed her head, and then her hologram disappeared. Hera heard the door open, and turned around to see Kanan coming through the door.

“I should get going too, Leia,” Hera said.

They exchanged brief goodbyes, and Hera went to greet Kanan at the door.

“Hey,” he said before quickly kissing her. “Shara and Kes asked if they could keep Jacen a little later and take the boys out to dinner, I said it was okay.”

Hera nodded. “Yeah, that’s okay. You told Jacen to behave for them?”

“Of course,” Kanan said, giving her a sideways smile. “What kind of father do you think I am?”

Hera rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright.”

“How’d your call go?”

“Same as always. Things aren’t as exciting now that the war is over.”

Kanan smiled at her. “That’s fine with me.”

Hera chuckled. “Have to say that I agree.”

She pulled him into the living room, and sat down. He flopped onto the couch, and lay his head down on her lap. She laughed, and moved her hands so she could run her fingers through his hair, pulling it loose of his ponytail.

“So,” Kanan said. “What are your plans with the kid gone for the day?”

Hera hummed. “I… think we should talk.”

He raised an eyebrow. “About?”

Hera sighed. “Do you remember our anniversary? When we said we’d talk about marriage?”

“I do. Are we talking about that now?”

“Could we?”

“Yeah, yeah” Kanan said, sitting up next to her. “Of course we can. What about it?”

Hera reached out to stroke his loose hair, and he smiled at her and leaned into her hand.

“I mean… I’d like to get married,” she said. “Maybe soon.”

Kanan’s face lit up a little. “I’d like to get married soon too. Am I hearing permission to propose?”

“Who says you’re proposing?” Hera asked. “What if I get you first?”

“Oh, come on,” he said. “I’ve wanted to for so,  _ so _ long. Please?”

Hera laughed. “Alright. But you should ask my dad for permission sometime.”

“Do we need his permission?”

“No, we don’t, but he’d like to feel… respected and included with all of this. He’s a bit traditional with certain things.”

Kanan nodded. “Will do.”

Hera smiled, her heart felt like it was bouncing happily within her chest.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too.”

Hera kissed him, wrapping her arms around him and relishing in the feeling of him holding her too.


	2. Cantina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeb and Kallus come to visit, and take Kanan out to eat.

Kanan laughed as he heard Kallus try to coax Jacen out of Zeb’s arms for probably the seventh time that day, only to have Jacen insist on snuggling with his Uncle Zeb. Zeb let out a half-snort, half-chuckle.

“Uncle Zeb,” Jacen said. “Can you come upstairs? I want to show you something?”

“Of course, kid,” Zeb said. He excused himself and followed Jacen upstairs, leaving Hera and Kanan alone with Kallus.

“Kanan,” Kallus said. “How have you been, being back?”

“I’ve never been happier,” Kanan said. Hera put her hand on his shoulder.

“He’s been taking really good care of Jacen,” Hera said. Kanan didn’t even bother to hide his proud smile when she said that.

“I’m glad,” Kallus said. “You go out much? I hear there’s a nice new cantina they just built here.”

“Oh, no,” Kanan said. “Not to the cantina. I’ve taken Hera out, and we’ve gone out as a family, but not to the cantina.”

“Well, we were planning on inviting Rex to go out with us before we leave tonight. You could come along.”

“I’d love to,” Kanan said. “But I- I don’t think we could leave Jacen.”

“I’ll watch him, love,” Hera said. “You should go.”

Zeb’s voice sounded from upstairs, accompanied by Jacen’s giggles.

“Alex, get up here! You’ve gotta see this!”

Kallus chuckled. “Let me see what that’s all about. Just let me know, alright?”

He went upstairs, and Hera rubbed Kanan’s arm.

“You should go, love,” she said. “I’ve gone out with my friends.”

“They’re your friends too,” Kanan pointed out. “And I don’t drink anymore, you’d have more fun.”

“I hardly drink. And Zeb doesn’t either. You’d have fun,” Hera said. “I won’t make you go, but if you want to go, you should. Jacen and I will have fun at home, we don’t get as much time with just the two of us anymore.”

Kanan nodded, thinking, and Hera kissed his cheek gently.

Zeb and Kallus came down with Jacen shortly after, raving about Jacen’s new drawings, and thanking him for one he’d given them as a gift. They got to the living room.

“We’re going to go meet Rex. Kanan, are you coming?”

Kanan hesitated, but nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

Zeb pulled him to his feet and clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s get going, then.”

Kanan grabbed his jacket, and Hera came over and took his hands.

“Have fun. That’s an order, Jarrus.”

Kanan laughed and kissed her quickly, before scooping Jacen up to hug him tightly.

“I might be back after your bedtime, okay? But I’ll see you in the morning. Say goodbye to Uncle Zeb and Uncle Kallus.”

Kanan set him down to let him hug his uncles, before they all stepped out the door, returning Hera, Jacen and Chopper’s goodbyes.

* * *

While Rex and Kallus had both had a few drinks and were chatting by the bar, Kanan was happy to drink some sugary drinks and split a platter of wings meant for six with Zeb. Kanan, realizing with Hera’s help how much he was hurting himself with drinking, had gone sober not too long after moving in with her, and when they’d met Zeb, he helped him do the same. It was one of the many, many things that forged the strong bond they had with each other.

“Can I tell you something?” Kanan asked.

“Of course.”

“I’m planning on proposing to Hera.”

Zeb gasped, and Kanan could feel how much he lit up. “Karabast, that’s amazing. She’s going to be so happy.”

“I know.”

“How are you going to do it?”

“I want to have you, Sabine and Ezra all over for dinner. I’ll make Rycrit stew-”

“Her favorite,” Zeb said.

“Exactly. And then… I’ll do it. I’ll tell her everything about how I feel, and ask.”

“You have a ring?”

“I still need to get that.”

“What kind of ring are you thinking? I’ll help.”

Kanan pursed his lips, and leaned in to quietly whisper the plans for the ring to Zeb.


	3. Pet Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan, being made so happy by Hera calling him "love" or "dear," wants to think of something to call her too.

“Morning, love,” Hera said, gently leaning down to kiss his cheek on her way to the pot of caf on the counter. Instead of the smile and gentle, pleasant hum he usually responded with, he just groaned and dropped his head onto the table, his forehead hitting it with a quiet  _ thunk _ and shaking the mug of caf he was drinking. Hera frowned and raised an eyebrow.

“Everything alright?”

Kanan didn’t lift his head up. “I love it when you call me that.”

“That’s… good. What’s with the… everything, then?”

“I just-” Kanan sighed, and finally lifted his head up. “I’ve been thinking. Whenever you call me love, ever since the first time, it makes me so happy. You make me feel so loved, and… I want to make you feel loved too.”

Hera smiled softly.

“You  _ do _ make me feel loved. More loved than anyone else ever has. What more do you want to do?”

“I want something I can call you that makes you feel the way I feel when you call me ‘love’ or ‘dear.’”

Hera smiled at him, even if he couldn’t see it, and put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“I’m sure that you’ll come up with something to make me happy.”

Kanan nodded. “How did you come up with ‘love?’”

“Well,” Hera said. “I didn’t exactly just ‘come up with it,’ we were together, and… I just said it. And it felt right. And clearly, it  _ was _ right, if it still makes you so happy.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Maybe just try a bunch of different names out until there’s one that feels right, and makes us both happy.”

Kanan nodded. “I can do that,” he said, a small smirk slowly growing on his face. “Sweetheart.”

Hera wrinkled her nose. “I call Jacen that.”

“Yeah, I realized that as soon as I said it,” Kanan said. “I’ll think of something.”

Hera kissed his cheek again and stood up to get her caf. “I know you will. Don’t rush it, alright? We have all the time we could need.”

Kanan nodded, and Hera poured herself her caf.

* * *

Kanan pushed Jacen on the swing, earning him some giggles and delighted squeals.

“More!”

“What if I push you too hard and you fall off!”

Jacen didn’t seem to care for that protest. “More!”

Kanan sighed and chuckled, and when Jacen came back, Kanan pushed him even harder, admittedly using the Force a little bit to help. He felt Hera’s delight as she watched from the bench nearby.

“Be careful!”

Jacen only giggled in response, and Kanan smiled as he continued to push him a little longer. Jacen asked to stop, and Kanan slowed down the swing and gave Jacen a hand to help him off. Jacen quickly said something, but the only words Kanan could make out where “slides,” so Kanan figured he was running over there and went to sit by Hera. She handed him the bottle of water he’d brought, which he eagerly took a sip of.

“You have to be careful pushing that kid,” she said. “You could send him upside down if you do it any harder.”

“If he’s anything like you, he’d probably love that even more… babe.”

Hera laughed. “Not that one either, love.  _ Please _ .”

Kanan groaned and leaned his head back. He definitely agreed with Hera, but he was having trouble thinking of something he felt right saying.

“You watching Jacen over there?”

“Mmhmm. He’s going up the slide.”

“Not down?”

“Nope.”

“Of course.”

Hera laughed and gently prodded him with her elbow, and he returned the gesture too.

* * *

Kanan was already half asleep when he felt Hera climb into bed with him, and wrap her arms around his waist. She pressed a kiss to his back, right in between his shoulder blades and tightened her hold on him.

“Good night,” she said quietly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he mumbled. “Good night, hon.”

It didn’t register with Kanan, but he heard Hera chuckle behind him, and felt her kiss him again.

“You found the right name.”

A small, sleepy smile grew on Kanan’s face, and he felt a pleasant, happy warmth from both himself and the woman behind him as they both drifted off.


	4. Blessing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan stays home while Jacen and Hera go out to make an important call.

“Bye, hon.”

He could hear the movement of Hera’s jacket as she shrugged it on. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

Kanan kissed her cheek. “No, I’m not feeling that well. Besides, you and Jacen deserve a nice day out to yourselves. I’ve had plenty of those when you’re at work.”

“You’re not feeling well?”

He could feel genuine concern in her voice, and Kanan felt like his stomach was turning. He hated lying to Hera, even for something so small, and missing out on a day with her and Jacen.

It wasn’t a total lie, though. His head was pounding, and he did want to lie down. He just had something else to do first.

“Just a little bit. I’m going to go lie down. You and Jacen have fun, alright?”

Hera hesitated. “Alright. Comm if you need anything.”

“I will.”

She kissed his cheek, and called for Jacen, who asked Kanan why he wasn’t coming along. It hurt Kanan’s heart even more to lie to him, but soon they were both out of the house.

“Bye, love,” Hera said. “Get some rest, alright?”

“I will.”

“Feel better, Daddy!”

Kanan smiled. “I will, kiddo. I love you!”

“Love you too!”

The door shut, and Kanan sighed in relief, and then turned around.

“Chopper, comm Cham Syndulla.”

Chopper warbled affirmatively, and Kanan followed him into the living room, where he sat on the couch and listened to the comm table chime as he waited for Cham to pick up.

It took so long Kanan almost told him to just give up and try again a little later, but finally the comm table beeped, and he heard Cham’s voice.

“Hello, Kanan. It’s good to see you.”

Kanan smiled and nodded respectively. “Thank you for answering, sir.”

“Of course. Do you need anything?”

Kanan fidgeted with his hands nervously. “Well, I wanted to ask you something.”

“And?”

Kanan pursed his lips for a moment. “Hera and I have talked about getting married,” he said.

He wished he could see Cham’s face to gauge a reaction, because he didn’t hear him say anything. But he didn’t hear the click of him hanging up either, so that was something.

“I’m planning on proposing,” Kanan continued. “But I wanted to get your blessing first. I promise I’ll be a good husband, and I love Hera with everything I have, and-”

“I know, Kanan,” Cham interrupted. There was some amusement in his voice that Kanan could help but notice. “And I know how much Hera loves you. You have my blessing. Though I get the feeling that you and Hera would still get married without it.”

“Um-”

“You’ve made my daughter very happy, and you take good care of my grandson. You were there for Hera when I wasn’t, and you’re a good man, and I know how much she loves you. I’d be proud to officially welcome you into my family.”

Kanan could feel his face warm from the praise. “I- thank you.”

“Mm. Was that all?”

“Yes,” Kanan said.

“Well,” Cham said. “Goodbye, Kanan. I’ll see you at your wedding.”

“Hopefully before then,” Kanan said with a chuckle. “Goodbye.”

He heard the hologram click off and sighed, feeling like there was a weight off of his shoulders. He couldn’t help his smile as he laid down on the couch, taking a deep, happy breath.

* * *

Hera gently knocked on the door of the bedroom. She heard Kanan mumble a “come in,” and she opened the door, slowly walking over to the bed where he was laying. She smiled at him and sat on the bed, gently stroking his hair.

“Hey, love.”

“Hey.”

“You feeling better?”

“Mmhmm.”

She chuckled. “That’s good. I thought you wouldn’t want to make dinner, so I picked up some takeout on our way home.”

“What kind?” Kanan asked.

“Melahnese.”

He lifted his head, eyebrows raised. “Melahnese? What are we, royalty?”

Hera snorted. “It’s… Melahnese-esque.”

“So… discount Melahnese.”

She squeezed his shoulder playfully. “It’s from a new place that just opened up. Rex said it was really good, and it’s not that expensive. And I’ve never had Melahnese before, so I thought we’d try it.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll bring a plate up for you, love.”

Hera combed her fingers through his hair again and gently kissed his forehead. Kanan’s arm wrapped up around her and held her close, and Hera laughed as he pulled her down.

“What’s this for?”

“I love you  _ so _ much.”

Hera smiled and nuzzled her face against his neck.

“I love you too.”

She pulled herself away, squeezing his hand before leaving the room. She went downstairs, where Chopper was carefully watching Jacen as he shoveled down his food. Hera gently ruffled his hair and quickly pressed a firm kiss to his cheek.

“Do you like it?”

“Mmmph!”

Some crumbs spewed onto the plate from Jacen’s mouth, and Hera wrinkled up her nose.

“Don’t try to talk with your mouthful, sweetheart. I’ll be right down to eat with you, I’m just going to bring a plate up for your daddy.”

Jacen swallowed. “Is he better?”

“Yes, honey, he’s feeling better, but he’s just laying down to make sure he’s  _ extra _ better.”

Hera took a plate and went past the comm table, but she bumped it with her hip, and it turned on. She muttered “karabast” under her breath and went to turn it off, but part of the hologram caught her eye.

_ Call Records: Today, 1124-1127 ~ Cham Syndulla _

Hera smiled as she shut the comm table off, and brought the plate upstairs to Kanan with a bounce in her step.


	5. Dejarik & Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Hera are teaching Jacen some dejarik before lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no update. I'm so sorry, life has been crazy! But I'll try to update more and more (especially now that I don't have much to do with everything going on).
> 
> I hope everyone is staying as safe and healthy as possible!

Kanan pointed to a spot on the board.

“Which piece is there again?”

“The… worm,” Jacen said.

Kanan chuckled. “You mean the K’lor’slug. If I’ve got my Monnok here,” Kanan said, pointing to the spot on the board where Hera told him it was. “Do you know which way you should move your K’lor’slug?”

Jacen paused for a long time. “No,” he finally said.

Hera whispered something that Kanan couldn’t make out, and Jacen giggled. A moment later, Kanan heard a button on the holotable click and the familiar sound of his karkath screeching as one of Jacen’s pieces took it out.

“Hey,” he said. “What did you do?”

“He used his Ng’ok,” Hera said.

Kanan laughed. “You did?”

Jacen giggled again. “Yeah.”

“Where was that?” Kanan asked. He held his hand out, and Jacen took his hand and guided him, pressing his finger on one of the squares. Kanan snorted.

“That’s your mommy’s move. Well, here,” he put his finger on the board and counted the squares until he was at the point he wanted. “My Monnok is still here, right?”

“Yes, love,” Hera said.

Kanan moved the hologram to where he wanted it, and Hera chuckled before whispering something else to Jacen. There was another screech, and then the game over tune played from the holotable. Hera chuckled, but Jacen’s laugh was a lot louder.

“I got you, Daddy!”

Kanan snorted. “You did, didn’t you? You’re getting too good at this game.”

Jacen climbed into his lap from the holotable, and Kanan pulled him close and pressed his lips to the top of his head, letting the kiss rest in his hair.

Kanan always thought he was good at playing dejarik until he met Hera. She (and eventually Rex) were the only ones that could beat him every time they played- he even got Sabine and Zeb about equally as they got him. But if Jacen (with Hera’s help) could beat him every time, he couldn’t be prouder.

“I love you, kid,” Kanan said with a smile.

Jacen hugged him. “Love you too.”

He heard the chair on the opposite side move, and a moment later he felt Hera’s arms around them both, and she kissed Kanan’s cheek through his beard. Jacen giggled, and Kanan heard her kiss him too. They all rested like that for a moment, and Kanan sighed happily, at peace both holding and being held by his family.

But Jacen, being a child as young as he was, couldn’t keep that for too long.

“Daddy, what’s for lunch?”

Kanan and Hera both laughed, and Hera stepped back from them, while Kanan gently drew a couple of fingers over Jacen’s head, through his hair.

“I was just going to make some sandwiches,” Kanan said. “Like the ones I made yesterday. Does that sound good?”

Kanan didn’t hear Jacen’s answer, but felt him nod via the hand in his hair. Kanan smiled and squeezed both of Jacen’s cheeks briefly before lifting him off of his lap and onto the floor.

“I’ll go make them right now.”

“The kitchen is still a mess from dinner last night,” Hera said. “I’ll help you.”

“You don’t have to do that, hon.”

“I want to. Jacen, Daddy and I will call when lunch is ready. Why don’t you go play with Chopper until then?”

“Okay!”

Kanan heard the rhythmic thumps of Jacen’s feet running across the floor, and smiled. Just a moment later, he felt Hera quickly press a gentle kiss to his lips before taking his hand and pulling him into the kitchen.

* * *

Hera put the last bowl into the cabinet, and looked at Kanan, who was carefully slicing some of the riding ham for the sandwiches. She just watched him for a few moments, taking in how kriffing  _ lucky _ she was.

His face was scrunched up as he was examining the ham with his fingers to decide where the next cut was, moving the knife much slower than he would before Malachor to make sure he didn’t catch a finger underneath it.

The light from the window highlighting him and the soft music playing made Hera’s heart sing, and she smiled slowly as she turned the music up.

“Like this song?” Kanan asked with a quiet chuckle.

“Yeah,” Hera said.

Kanan finished slicing the ham and started putting together the sandwiches, stacking the bread with the vegetables and spreading the spiced sauce over it all, before slicing two of them in half (diagonally for her, vertically for him) and one into quarters. Hera smiled and tapped his back. He set the knife down and turned around.

“They’re all done. You want to call Jacen?”

“Mmhmm,” Hera said, taking his hands and putting them on her waist. Kanan raised his eyebrows as Hera put her hands over his shoulders. She started swaying both of them to the music, kissing him and pulling herself tighter against him. She rested her head on his chest, listening to the song playing- it was an older one, from a Twi’lek artist her dad had introduced her to when she was little.

“ _ Ma sareen _ ,” Kanan said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“The song,” Kanan said. “Is that what it’s called?”

“Oh,” Hera said. “Yeah. It means ‘my sweet’ in Twi’leki.”

“Mmm,” Kanan said quietly, nodding. “I like it. It’s a good song.”

“Me too,” Hera said, still dancing slowly with him. It was a small moment, but she found herself wanting to stay in it forever.

Hera didn’t even hear Jacen come into the kitchen, she only felt him tugging on the hem of her shirt.

“I’m hungry,” he said sheepishly.

Kanan laughed and stepped back from Hera.

“Sorry, kid. Sandwiches are right here.”

Hera folded her arms, and watched him help Jacen into the dining chair and give him his plate, before handing Hera hers.

Hera smiled and sat down to eat with her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


	6. Ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan now has Hera's ring, he just needs to make his plans.

“Did it come yet?”

Kanan nodded, holding up a small box with a smirk. “I think so.”

He was sure Hera was getting suspicious of him- he’d sent a stone to a jeweler he and Zeb had found, and had been fielding packages that arrived at their door ever since.

But that didn’t matter. He had the ring he was going to propose to the love of his life with. That was what mattered.

“Let me see,” Zeb said.

Kanan opened the box to show Zeb the ring, and Zeb whistled.

“She’ll love it.”

“You sure.”

“Yes I’m sure. When are you going to do it?”

Kanan closed the box and put it back in his pocket. “I’m not sure. I wanted to have you all over for dinner, remember?”

“Mmm. I can call the kids and see when they want to come over.”

Kanan nodded. “Yeah. Hera doesn’t have any missions coming up in the next few weeks, so we should be okay.”

Zeb paused for a moment. “If I call Hera and ask if we could all come over, it’ll seem like my idea and she won’t suspect anything.”

Kanan snorted. “Smart. I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Zeb laughed, and Kanan couldn’t hide his smile.

Planning on proposing to Hera was one of his most exciting and daunting plans yet.

* * *

Hera climbed in bed with Kanan, snuggling up against him and resting in his arms.

“Zeb just called,” she said.

“Oh?” Kanan asked.

It was the most feigned surprise she’d ever heard from him, and she frowned.

“Yes- were you expecting him to?”  
“No,” Kanan said. 

“Mmhmm,” Hera said, slowly nodding. “Anyway, he said he, Sabine and Ezra were wondering if they could come over next week. I said it’s okay.”

“Sounds good,” Kanan said, smiling. “I’ll make dinner.”

Hera smiled back at him. “Great! Jacen is going to be so excited.”

He kissed her cheek, and wrapped his arms around her to pull her tight against him.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hera said, nuzzling her head against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter, I know, but we're getting to the good parts!


	7. Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew comes over for dinner, discussing what's going on in their lives, and Kanan finally does what he's wanted to do for a really, really long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there's been a long wait for this (sorry about that) but here it is! I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Hera stepped back from Ezra and let him into the house, only to watch him be bombarded by hugs from Sabine and Jacen and laugh. When Sabine finally let him go and Ezra scooped Jacen up to hold him, Ezra looked around.

“Where’s Kanan?”

“Upstairs with Zeb and Chopper,” Hera answered.

“What are they doing?”

Hera snorted. “No idea. Zeb got here and grabbed him and they both just went straight upstairs.”

“It’s true,” Sabine said. “I saw them.”

Ezra wrinkled his nose. “That’s weird.”

“Would you expect anything else?” Sabine asked.

The timer on the stove went off, and Hera went over to the kitchen to check on the pot of stew Kanan had been making. She was excited to eat it- it was rycrit stew. Her favorite meal, though the ingredients could be a little difficult to find so far from Ryloth

“Sabine,” she asked. “Can you go tell them the stew is ready?”

“Mmhmm,” Sabine said. She went towards the stairs, and Hera smiled at Jacen, who was still clinging onto Ezra.

“You’re getting heavy, kid,” Ezra said. “Might have to put you down.”

“No!” Jacen squealed, tightening his hold on Ezra and almost climbing him. Hera shook her head.

“Jacen, how about you and Ezra go wash your hands before we eat, alright?”

“I’ll take us,” Ezra said, shifting his hold on Jacen. “Just point me the right way.”

Jacen giggled and pointed towards the bathroom, and Hera couldn’t stop smiling as she set the table.

Between the stew, having the family over, and the nervous way Kanan had been behaving recently, she had an inkling of an idea on what might happen.

* * *

“You can do better than that,” Zeb said. Kanan snapped the small, velvety ring box shut and folded his arms.

“I’m nervous, Zeb.”

“You know she’ll say yes,” Zeb pointed out.

“I know she will,” Kanan said, standing up. “I just want it to be perfect. We haven’t had any other normal… milestones. She deserves to have this one be just right.”

Zeb was quiet for a while, and then Kanan felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I understand. Try it one more time. Remember what you wanted to say.”

Kanan nodded and got down on one knee, already starting to shake again. His palms were still sweaty, but he took a deep breath.

“Hera,” he said. “I love you, and-”

The door flew open.

“Hey,” Sabine said quickly. “The st- oh!”

“Sabine-” Zeb said.

She started laughing. “I’m happy for you guys, but does Hera know about this? Or Kallus?”

“I’m just practicing,” Kanan said.

“Are you doing it tonight?” Sabine asked. Kanan didn’t have to use the Force to tell that her excitement was mounting. “Is that why we’re all here?”

“Yes!” Zeb answered, before Kanan could. Kanan smiled.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Are you nervous?” Sabine asked.

“He is,” Zeb answered quickly, again before Kanan could.

“Why? It’s Hera. You know how you feel, you know how she feels. Just tell her what she means to you, and that you love her. Then ask.”

“That’s better than what I said,” Zeb said. “Just do that.”

“What did you say?”

“To talk about how she’s changed his life, and-”

“He has to save  _ something _ for the wedding vows,” Sabine pointed out.

“Alright,” Kanan said. “Thank you both, I think I have an idea now. Is the stew done?”

“Oh yeah,” Sabine said. “That’s why I came up here.”

Kanan snorted and rolled his eyes, shoving the ring into his pocket and heading to the door of his room to go downstairs.

“Alright, let’s go have dinner. Neither of you say a word before I do it, understand?”

* * *

“You’ve outdone yourself, love,” Hera said after she took her first taste of the stew. Kanan chuckled as he was pouring bowls for everyone at the table.

“Ezra,” Kanan said as he set a bowl down in front of him. “How are things on Lothal?”

Hera noticed Ezra light up. “It’s amazing. I get to see my people really healing. It’s like I’m finally seeing the Lothal that my parents used to talk about.”

Hera smiled warmly. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Ezra nodded. “But… there’s a lot of children who lost their parents, and don’t have homes. Like I did. So Jai and I have been working with Azadi to give them a home.”

“How?” Kanan asked, finally sitting down after everyone had a bowl in front of them.

“We’re starting an orphanage,” Ezra said. “It’s a lot of work, but I think it’ll be worth it.”

“That’s very noble, Ezra,” Hera said. “I’m proud of you.”

“We all are,” Zeb said.

Ezra was beaming as he finally dug into the stew on his own. They ate in near-quiet for a few moments, until Hera chided Jacen about getting stew all over his face and wiping it with a napkin.

“Ketsu and I just finished a big Alderaani piece for Senator Organa,” Sabine said. Hera checked Jacen’s cheeks for stew quickly before looking at Sabine.

“What was the piece?” Zeb asked.

“A sculpture of the last queen of Alderaan,” Sabine said. “It was in the palace. I haven’t given it to the Senator yet.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” Kanan said. “She grew up in the palace, and the last queen was her mother.”

“I know,” Sabine said. “I know she’ll love it, but me being nervous isn’t a reason to delay it any longer.”

Hera noticed her giving Kanan a pointed glare as she said it. Hera frowned, but didn’t say anything. She always knew she had an odd family.

Dinner didn’t take much longer to finish, even with Hera having a second bowl of stew and Zeb having a third, and Zeb eagerly jumped to help Kanan with the dishes while Hera and the kids went to the living room to sit.

_ Odd family. _

While waiting for Zeb and Kanan to rejoin them, Jacen took to telling Sabine and Ezra about how he and Hera always beat Kanan in dejarik, and Hera laughed as Sabine and Ezra both swore that they’d try to beat his obvious holochess mastery. Jacen was just explaining the alternate rules he’d come up with for the game when Hera heard a smack from the kitchen.

“Kriff’s sake, Zeb,” Kanan cursed, just audible enough for Hera to hear. She furrowed her brow.

“Everything okay back there?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zeb said. “We’re coming.”

“Kriff!” Jacen said. Hera whipped her head around, and saw Jacen beaming while Ezra and Sabine obviously tried to hold back laughter.

“Jacen Caleb Syndulla,” Hera said sternly. “You don’t use that kind of language.”

“Daddy said it!”

Kanan sat down next to Hera, and she could see his wide eyes and pursed lips out of the corner of her eye.

“You’re in trouble,” Ezra said quietly to Kanan, short laughs slipping through. Hera ignored him.

“Daddy’s a grown-up. When you’re a grown-up, you can say it if you want to. But you’re not a grown-up, so I don’t want to hear it.”

Jacen frowned and sighed. “Okay.”

Hera nodded slowly, then eased her expression into a smile.

“I love you, Jacen.”

“I love you too!”

Hera sighed and leaned back, putting a little bit of her weight on Kanan beside her. Chopper wheeled himself into the room, finally showing up and took himself next to Jacen, who promptly rested an elbow on the top of his dome and giggled as Chopper warbled. Hera nodded towards Zeb.

“Zeb, anything new or exciting you have to tell us?”

Zeb shook his head. “No, nothing. We’ve settled in, things are good. Peaceful.”

“We can never get enough of peace,” Ezra said. Zeb nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Hera, you two have something to tell us though.”

Hera raised an eyebrow and looked at Kanan, who almost looked like he wanted to disappear. “We do?”

Kanan swallowed hard and nodded.

“Mmhmm.”

He slowly got off the couch onto one knee in front of Hera, and her heart sped up, especially when he pulled a small box out of his pocket.

“Kanan…” she said softly.

He flashed her a smile. “Hera,” he started, his voice quiet. “I love you. Obviously.”

“I love you too,” Hera said, matching his volume. Her eyes stung.

She had known this was coming for a little while now, but that didn’t make it any less emotional.

“You mean… everything to me. You’re my family, the first person I’ve ever… felt this way about. I’ve known you longer than I’ve known anyone. You’ve saved my life in more ways than one, and too many times to count. I know we were… apart, for too long, but I don’t want that ever again. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side.”

A tear slipped down Hera’s cheek right after one did on Kanan’s face, and she quickly wiped it away with her hand.

“I’m nervous,” Kanan admitted. “But only because you deserve perfection. Sometimes, I’m not sure if that’s me. But you make me feel like it is. This has been a long time coming, but it’s the easiest decision I’ve ever made.”

Hera swallowed the lump in her throat, and she heard a sniffle or two from the rest of her family in the living room. But she didn’t dare pull her focus from Kanan.

“Hera Syndulla,” Kanan said slowly. “Will you marry me?”

He opened the box, and Hera gasped. The ring was beautiful, sparkling under the light.

“Yes,” Hera said quickly, wiping another tear. “Yes, of course.”

Kanan grinned and she pushed herself down onto the floor to wrap her arms around him, burying her face into his neck as she let out teary laughs, which Kanan returned, both of them holding each other and muffling each other's laughs and cries.

They held each other for another moment, before Sabine interrupted them.

“Put on the ring, Hera,” she said.

Hera pulled away from Kanan, and put a hand on his cheek, scratching his beard gently and kissing him (feeling his smile as she did, and smiling herself), before looking down at the ring in his hand.

“Kanan, this is beautiful.”

“I helped pick it out,” Zeb said. Kanan laughed.

“He was a big help.”

“Thank you, Zeb,” Hera said, gingerly pulling the ring out of the box and slipping it on her finger. She admired it, flexing her fingers and turning her hand to watch it sparkle in the light. The crystal looked familiar, and she inspected it for a few moments before realizing.

“Kanan… is this thorilide?”

He smirked and nodded.

Her mouth fell open a bit as she smiled and shook her head. “You… really?”

“Mmhmm. It’s from a piece from Gorse, way back when.”

Hera’s eyes widened a little. “Oh… love, this…”

She truly couldn’t find the words, and she’d never seen Kanan look so damn proud of himself.

“I thought thorilide was used for ships,” Sabine said. “Not jewelry.”

Hera smiled at Kanan, and looked at Sabine to explain.

“Kanan and I met on Gorse-”

“She blew up a moon,” Kanan said cheekily. Hera elbowed him, and Jacen gasped when Kanan said it.

“A moon?”

“No, no,” Hera said. “ _ I  _ didn’t blow it up. And it was only part of the moon. Chopper will tell you!”

Chopper grumbled in agreement, gesturing with a small metal arm that almost hit Jacen.

“I read a report about what happened on Gorse and Cynda years ago,” Sabine said, incredulous. “That was you two?

“Yes. There’s a report?” Kanan asked.

“A moon partially exploded, a mining operation was shut down, and a count died,” Sabine answered. “Of course there’s a report.” 

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Hera said pointedly. “We met on Gorse then, and saved Cynda together. I found him… tolerable enough to have him move in with Chopper and I, and you guys know the rest. I can’t believe this story never came up before.”

Kanan chuckled, and Hera shared the moment with him, reminiscing about the days when they were younger. She looked back down at her ring, a reminder of both the past they shared and the future they were going to share.


	8. Ryloth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera and Kanan go to Ryloth to tell Cham about the engagement.

Hera admired her ring in the few extra seconds it took Kanan to come up the couple of stairs with Jacen in his arms, still slightly in awe. She never really thought she’d see the day she showed up to her father’s doorstep with an engagement ring on.

But here she was.

Kanan smiled at her, and Hera smiled back, even if she knew he couldn’t see it.

“Ready?” Kanan asked.

“Always,  _ fiance _ .”

Kanan grinned- they’d both been getting too much enjoyment out of referring to each other with that word.

Hera knocked on the door, and a few moments later, Numa came to the door. Hera blinked in surprise, but quickly made sure to smile after she remembered that her father had moved in with Gobi and Numa since her old home had been destroyed.

“Hera,” Numa said, and Hera couldn’t help but feel a little warm- hearing her name in a Rylothean accent always just felt more right. “Cham said you were coming.”

Hera nodded, and Numa continued.

“He’s in the family room, this way.”

Hera followed her through the door, resting a hand on Kanan’s arm to guide him through a new place. She made a face at Jacen as she did so, earning a quiet giggle that he muffled in his daddy’s shirt. When they got to the family room, her father was sitting on the couch. He gave her the biggest smile, and stood up-

With a cane.

“Hera!”

“Dad,” Hera said, going over and hugging him quickly, before putting a hand on the cane. “What’s this?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little bit of old age.”

“He fell a week ago,” Numa said. “Doctor recommended it.”

Hera’s jaw dropped a little, and her brows furrowed as she looked at Numa.

“He  _ fell _ ? And no one called me?”

She heard herself slip into her native accent, but she didn’t care.

“ _ Relax, Hera _ ,” her father said, in their native tongue this time. “ _ I told her not to _ .”

Hera looked at her father, her expression softening. “ _ Papa, _ ” she said in Twi’leki. “ _ You have to tell me when these things happen. I don’t- I don’t want to not be here, if… _ ”

“ _ It was just a fall. If it were something more serious- _ ”

“ _ Just tell me from now on, Papa. Please. _ ”

Cham eyed her for a few moments, and out of the corner of her eye Hera could see Kanan with an eyebrow raised, and Jacen just looking confused between the two of them. She mentally made a note to teach her son more Twi’leki, and refresh Kanan on what she had taught him years ago.

“ _ Fine. I’ll call you every time I fall, how’s that? _ ”

“ _ Sounds perfect. _ ”

Cham straightened up, smiled at Kanan and Jacen.

“How’s my grandson doing, eh?”

Jacen laughed and reached out for him. “Grandpa!”

Cham laughed and reached for him with the arm that wasn’t preoccupied with the cane, taking him out of Kanan’s arms.

“Dad- Kanan, no,” Hera said, but before she could stop them, Cham had Jacen resting on his hip with one arm around him.

“A piece of wood is never gonna stop me from holding my Jacen,” Cham chided Hera, and moved to sit back down, setting the cane aside and pulling Jacen squarely onto his lap. “Though he is getting a bit big.”

Kanan chuckled, and Hera just shook her head as she pulled him down to sit next to her, across from Jacen and her father.

“And I used to wonder why you were so stubborn,” he whispered, and Hera just elbowed his side.

“Alright,” Cham said. “Let me see your hand.”

“My hand?” Hera asked.

“That’s why you wanted to visit, right? Let’s see it.”

Hera smiled and put her hand out towards him. Her father leaned forward to inspect the ring that sparkled on her finger.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it,” Hera answered honestly. She felt Kanan put an arm around her shoulders, and glanced back to see his proud smile. She looked back to see Cham wearing a similar expression.

“Are you happy?”

“Of course.”

Cham smiled at Kanan. “Welcome to the family, Jedi.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kanan said.

Cham leaned back, apparently satisfied with his view of the ring, and pressed a quick kiss to Jacen’s forehead before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small bag, and handed it to Hera.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to give you these.”

Hera’s face began to heat up- she was sure knew what they were.

“ _ Papa _ …”

“Open it.”

Hera tugged the pouch open, and poured the contents out onto her hand. Two black bands rested on her palm, and Hera pressed her lips together as she looked at them.

“ _ Papa _ , are you sure?”

“Of course. Unless you don’t want them.”

“I do, I do, I-” Hera looked at Kanan. Kanan, are you okay with this?”

“With what?”

“My parents’ wedding bands being our wedding bands.”

Kanan opened his mouth, and slowly nodded. “Of course. Mr. Syndulla, are you sure?”

“Stop asking me that,” Cham said, waving an arm. Jacen giggled at the gesture. “Of course I’m sure. My daughter deserves them, as long as it’s what she wants.”

Hera carefully slid the rings back inside the pouch and tucked it into the pocket of her jacket.

“Thank you, Dad.”

He smiled at her. “Anything for you, Hera. And it’s one less thing to plan for the wedding. Have you started yet?”

Hera chuckled. “Not yet. We’ve got some helpers with that, though.”

“Mmm. Well, if you need my help, you know where to find me.”

Hera smiled. “I know.”

* * *

“It’s so peaceful out here,” Kanan said.

Hera nodded. The only sounds were the songs of Ryloth’s flying fauna and the giggles of Jacen running around with Numa.

“I know. My mom used to take me out here all the time as a little girl. The clearing used to be smaller, but there’s a lot more space here now.”

Kanan ran a gentle hand down the middle of her back. “Enough space for a wedding?”

Hera raised an eyebrow. She’d told him she wanted to get married on Ryloth, though she didn’t know where. But here… 

“It is beautiful. And… we could bring some chairs there, some tables over there- I think we could do it here. If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Hera smiled, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I’ll talk to my dad about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for going so long without updating. Life, as I'm sure you all know, has been crazy lately. I promise that I'm not abandoning this fic!


	9. Bad Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Hera discuss a little about the wedding, and Jacen has a nightmare.

Hera nuzzled her head against Kanan’s neck, and he chuckled, tightening his hold on her as he did so.

“You’re awfully cuddly tonight, hon.”

“Just trying to get comfortable.”

“Mm.”

He kissed her temple, and Hera nuzzled further into him.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too. Sabine wanted to call and work on planning the wedding tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Mmhmm,” Hera nodded against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I said we could add Zeb and Ezra to the call too, since they wanted to help.”

“How big of a wedding are we having?”

Hera sighed. “We’ll have to do the guest list first. But we’ll make it fun”

Kanan chuckled again, traced his hand down one of Hera’s lekku, letting his fingers only lightly brush it, with just the right amount of pressure that he’d learned she liked the most. She gave him an appreciative hum in response, and let out a quiet, content breath.

He could feel her drifting off in his arms, and he was following close behind her, when he felt a cold shiver. He frowned and sat up a bit, and Hera stirred.

_ Jacen _ , Kanan thought.

“Love? Everything okay?”

“I-”

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard the door open slowly.

“Mommy?” Jacen asked tentatively, his voice quiet as he padded into the room. “Daddy?”

Kanan felt Hera sit up beside him. “We’re awake, sweetheart. What’s wrong?”

“I had a bad dream,” Jacen answered.

Kanan felt relief wash over him, and he opened his arms to beckon Jacen over. Jacen crawled up onto their bed, and then slid into Kanan’s arms. Kanan wrapped his arms around him protectively and brought him close to his chest, and he felt Hera’s arm bump his as she reached over to gently stroke his hair.

“What was it about?” Hera asked.

“I was being chased by the monster again. It was screaming really loud- I was scared.”

Hera sighed, and Kanan felt a lump in his throat- both of them were far too familiar with nightmares, and the thought of their baby struggling with them too just hurt Kanan too much for him to bear.

“The one with the wings?”

Jacen’s soft hair brushed Kanan’s chest as he nodded. “Mmhmm,” he sniffled. “I just want it to leave me alone.”

“I know,” Hera said. “It will, I promise. It can’t hurt you.”

“Can I sleep here?”

“Of course you can,” Kanan answered, gently brushing his fingers through his hair. “Come here, I’ll squish you.”

Kanan laid back down on the bed, bringing Jacen with him, and heard some giggles as he did so.

“Daddy!” Jacen squealed.

Hera flopped on the bed next to them, and brought herself close to both of them. Kanan was able to wrap his arms around both of them as they fell asleep, stroking Hera’s arm with small, soft motions, and pressing the occasional kiss to Jacen’s head.

When they both fell asleep, Kanan found himself thinking about how he finally had the life he’d dreamed of for years with Hera.


	10. Wedding Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The process of planning a wedding begins for Kanan and Hera, but fortunately they have a family who's excited to jump in and help.

“This wedding is getting bigger than I thought already,” Kanan said.

Hera sighed. “I know, I’m sorry.”

They only just finished the Syndulla clan on the invite list. Hera wasn’t planning on inviting the entire clan- that would be a wedding far beyond what she wanted to handle. But she had a lot of relatives to invite.

Kanan chuckled, and gave her a warm smile. “I wasn’t complaining. I think it could be fun.”

“That’s one word for it.”

Part of Hera was, admittedly, a little excited to get everyone together for a wedding, and to have a day of just fun with people she loved. She hadn’t seen many of her relatives hardly at all for a long time, and she knew her family was excited to celebrate with her and Kanan. 

The other part of her was very tempted to just sign the contract with Kanan and be married already.

“We’ll have to send plus-ones to Sabine, Ezra and Zeb,” Kanan said.

“Mmhmm. And we’ll invite Shara and Kes.”

“The Yeagers want invites too.”

Hera had to pause to allow herself to recognize the name of her fellow pilot’s family, but then nodded. “Right. And we have to invite Rex.”

“And Ahsoka.”

Before Hera could come up with another name, the comm in the holotable rang, and she heard Kanan chuckle.

“Sounds like one of our planners is ready for a meeting. We’ll have to finish the guest list later.”

She snorted and reached to answer the call, and blue holograms of Zeb, Sabine and Ezra lit up in the room with them, all smiling. Hera raised an eyebrow.

“All of you at once?”

They laughed. “We were talking about our plans before calling you.”

Hera looked over to see Kanan’s grin illuminated by the blue light. “ _ Your _ plans? Are you all getting married?”

_ Hey, less work for us _ , Hera thought.

Sabine folded her arms. “I think you’ll like what we came up with.”

“What do you have?”

Sabine’s face lit up and she launched into talking about the decorations and color scheme she’d come up with the wedding. To be honest, Sabine seemed almost more excited about the wedding than anybody else, if only, it appeared, for the opportunity to decorate a space, which Hera had promised her after Kanan proposed. The colors she was talking about sounded lovely to Hera- pastel yellows and purples as a theme, there’d be garlands of lace in those colors wrapped around and stretched between tall white poles, and flowers of close colors to match dotted across the tables for the guests.

“Are you sure you want to do all this? It sounds expensive,” Hera worried.

Sabine shook her head. “No. I dropped by the spot after you sent me the coordinates, it will be easy to set up. My mother offered some of the banquet tables from the stronghold, and I can get the materials to make things cheap. Between Zeb, Ezra, Ketsu and I we should be able to set everything up.

“Well, Hera and I can help too,” Kanan offered. “It’s not fair you’re doing everything for us.”

“We want to,” Zeb chimed in.

“After everything you’ve done for us?” Ezra said. “We’re happy to.”

Hera smiled warmly. “Alright, so that’s the decorations. Zeb, Ezra, you look like you have something to say.”

“We were wondering if we could take care of the food,” Zeb said, and Ezra nodded in agreement.

Hera turned to Kanan, sighing in relief. “That sounds great. Is that alright with you, love?”

“Mmhmm,” Kanan responded. “You guys sure you want to handle that?”

“Yes,” Ezra answered. “We’ve been looking at different Twi’lek foods for it.”

“You’ll need to get a lot of food,” Hera said. “Make sure you keep track of how much you spend, so we can pay you back. That goes for you too, Sabine.”

“You don’t have to-” Zeb started.

“I mean it.”

“Alright, alright.”

Kanan had his arm on Hera’s, and he was gently stroking it. “Uh, Sabine, did you say you were working on the music?”

Sabine nodded. “Mmhmm. Just a playlist to put into the speakers, but I’ve got a music droid that’ll take requests from anyone. Why?”

“Well…” Kanan said. “I think I know what song we want for our first dance.”

Hera looked at him. “You do?”

He nodded. “It’s called  _ Ma Sareen _ ,” he said.

Hera’s face warmed as she remembered their stolen dance in the kitchen to that very song. “It’s an old song,” she said to Sabine. “By a Twi’lek artist. I can’t remember his name, though.”

Sabine shrugged. “I’ll find it. Thank you.”

Hera couldn’t help but lean her head on Kanan’s shoulder. She already couldn’t wait for this wedding.


	11. Traditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera tells Kanan about the Twi'lek wedding tradtion's she'd like to include in their wedding.

Hera’s datapad pinged, and she closed the screen with the novel she was reading to look at the message. She smiled, and nudged Kanan’s arm.

“That was the holomail service. They sent the invites out,” she whispered.

Jacen had fallen asleep on Kanan’s lap, and he was holding him in his arms, being careful not to move or make him stir.

“That’s good,” he whispered back.

“Mmhmm. I wanted to ask you something though, love.”

“Hmm?”

“Did the Jedi have any… traditions? Wedding-related ones, I mean.”

“No,” Kanan said quietly, shaking his head. “We weren’t allowed to get married.”

“I know that, but… I mean, were there any traditions we could try to put into the wedding?”

“Not that I can think of. Why?”

Hera sighed. “I just… I want to include Twi’lek traditions in our wedding, but it’s not fair for it all to be my culture. I want to represent where you come from too.”

Though the light was dim, she could see Kanan give her a gentle smile. “We don’t have to do that. I’m not really a Jedi anymore, and I’d love to have just a Twi’lek wedding.”

“Really?”

“Really. But you’ll have to explain to me how Twi’lek weddings work.”

Hera smiled. “Do you want that right now, or would you rather wait?”

“I have time now.”

She nodded. “Alright… well, to start, we’re supposed to spend the week leading up to the wedding apart.”

“A week?”

“Yes. We’re supposed to stay with our parents, or the guardians that stand behind us at the wedding. I’ll stay with my father, but… well, that’s the other part. You’re supposed to have a parent, or someone you respect like a parent stand behind you at the wedding.”

“Who should I have?”

Hera pursed her lips. “It’s up to you. You don’t have to choose now, but give it some thought.”

Kanan nodded. “What else?”

“We’re supposed to ask our closest friend to perform the actual ceremony.”

“Zeb,” Kanan said quickly. Jacen stirred, and Kanan shifted his arms to help him stay comfortable enough to sleep. Hera smiled.

“That’s what I thought too. Then we’re both supposed to pick one companion to stand behind us with our guardians. I thought I could pick Sabine, and you could pick Ezra.”

“That sounds good.”

“Mmhmm. We’ll need someone to bring our rings to us after Zeb performs the ceremony- I thought Chopper and Jacen could each bring one to us.”

Kanan chuckled, and kissed the top of Jacen’s head. “That sounds adorable.”

“I know. And then, once we’re married, we have to do a trade. I’ll have ribbons around my lekku, you’re supposed to unwind them and wrap them around… well, your lekku, traditionally-”

“We might have a problem there.”

“Right,” Hera said. “I was thinking you could put them on your arms maybe. We’ll have to practice the ribbon wrapping though.”

Kanan nodded. “That works. “What’s my end of the trade?”

“You’ll be wearing a cape that I’ll take off and then wear.”

Kanan nodded. “These sound like good traditions.”

“I hoped you’d say that.”

Hera kissed him gently, and could feel the shadow of a smile on his lips.


	12. Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan gets some inspiration for where to go on the honeymoon.

Kanan opened the door to his home, and felt Jacen push past his legs to run through the door. He chuckled as he heard the pair of tiny feet stomp through their home into the living room, and then heard one of his favorite sounds- Hera’s laugh.

“Hey, Jacen,” she said. “You have fun with Daddy in the park?”

Jacen began babbling about how he had climbed every single tree in the park, and Kanan just shook his head as he followed Jacen into the living room, where Hera was.

“That sounds fun,” Hera said. “But it looks like you got pretty dirty. How about I give you a bath in a bit, huh?”

“Okay!” Jacen giggled.

“Go get your bath toys ready, and I’ll be up soon.”

Kanan heard another patter of feet as Jacen went up the stairs, and then heard a few slower, heavier steps coming towards him, before feeling a warm kiss pressed to his cheek.

“How was the park?”

“It was nice,” Kanan said. “Jacen enjoyed himself.”

Hera snorted. “I can see that.”

He smiled at her, and gently took one of her hands in his. “What are you doing down here? I thought you were going to lay down.”

“I was, but it turns out most people’s invitations just got there. Turns out we have quite a few people who want to speak at the wedding.”

Kanan shrugged. “Could be fun. We should let them all speak if they want to.”

“Mmhmm,” Hera hummed slowly. Her coy tone told him exactly what type of smile she had on her face. “You know, Lando called.”

Kanan set his jaw. “Well, maybe we could stand to vet them a little bit.”

Hera chuckled. “You’re really jealous of him?”

“Not jealous,” Kanan said defensively. “Just… not fond of him.”

“Right. Well, he’s really mellowed out since you met him. I told you he was a general in the Rebellion.”

“Good for Lando.”

Hera rubbed his shoulder. “I think I only want our close family to say anything. I’d feel weird otherwise. But we’ll talk about it- I need to go bathe the kid you apparently threw in a mudpit.”

“You know as well as I that that kid is perfectly capable of making a mess with no help.” Hera laughed, and he heard her walk away and up the stairs. Kanan smiled and sat down on the couch, sighing in relief from finally being off his feet. He let his head roll back and rest, but he only had a few moments before the comm table rang. He sat up, and let it ring for a few seconds, not sure, before leaning forward. He slid his hand around the rim of the table until he found the right button, and pressed it.

“Hello?” Kanan asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I know your name,” an unfamiliar woman’s voice said through the comm table. “Am I calling the right frequency?”

“I- uh, I don’t know,” Kanan answered. “Who are you?”

“I’m Senator Berenko of Naboo,” she said. “I’m calling for General Hera Syndulla. Do I have the right frequency?”

“Oh, yes,” Kanan said quickly. “Yes, I’m her fiancé. She’s a little busy at the moment, I can go get her-”

“That’s alright,” Senator Berenko said. “It’s nothing too confidential. Can you just take a message to her?”

“Of course.”

“Naboo is opening a ship museum half a year from now. It’s going to have countless ships from all of history, from all different planets and companies. It’s been a big project, and we would like General Syndulla to be one of the pilots there to celebrate with us on opening day.”

Kanan smiled proudly. “I’m sure she’d be honored. I’ll let her know.”

“Thank you. If General Syndulla finds herself on Naboo in the next few months, let her know she’s welcome to come look through the museum herself before opening day. It’s all but done, and we’re happy to offer this to any of the pilots who will be with us opening day.”

Something clicked in Kanan’s brain, and he nodded slowly. “Thank you, Senator.”

“Thank you for taking a message. I’ll let you go now.”

They shared parting messages, and the comm table shut off. Kanan pursed his lips, and leaned back again on the couch to think.

* * *

Hera came down the stairs and sat down next to Kanan, sliding her shoulders under his arm.

“Jacen must have really tired himself out at the park,” she said. “He was practically falling asleep in the bath, so I just put him down for a nap.”

“Mmhmm,” Kanan said. He turned his head to gently kiss her, his lips landing at the base of one of her lekku. “Have you thought about a honeymoon for us at all?”

“Honeymoon?” Hera paused. “No, actually, I haven’t.”

He nodded. “I was thinking… Naboo might be nice.”

“Naboo? Seems a little cliche.”

He chuckled. “Sure, I guess. But I’ve heard it’s beautiful, and they have all sorts of… culture and things there.”

He felt her nod against his shoulder. “I’ve heard the weather is almost always nice there too. And the food is supposed to be really good.”

“Exactly. I think it would be really romantic, and we’ve never been.” 

He felt her reach over, and one of her fingers delicately traced circles over the forearm he had resting across his stomach.

“Naboo sounds like a nice honeymoon to me. You’ve never talked about wanting to go there before.”

Kanan moved his arm so that he could hold Hera’s hand that was previously over his arm.

“Just thought about it now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm all about that slow build-up, but we're getting closer and closer to that wedding!


	13. The Tailor's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ghost family is going to pick up what they're wearing for the wedding, and are trying them on in two separate groups.

“What do you think?” Sabine asked. She turned around to give Hera and Zeb both a good look at the outfit they’d picked out for her to wear as Hera’s companion in the wedding. Hera looked over it quickly. It was a simple pale purple three-piece suit, which she wore a white collared shirt underneath. The pastel color made her bright orange hair stick out even more, and Sabine seemed to notice how Hera’s eyes were drawn to that, as she ran her fingers through her hair.

“Don’t worry, I’ll dye this to match.”

Hera chuckled. “That’s nice, Sabine. It looks good. The color is really nice.”

She saw Zeb nod in agreement out of the corner of her eye- Zeb’s outfit had been picked out first, and wasn’t nearly as colorful, as the one performing the ceremony he was just wearing simple dark grey robes with a thin white trim, but it suited him.

A few weeks ago, they’d placed orders and gotten measured for the clothes they needed, and were getting to try them on at the tailor’s for the first time. Sabine had done a lot of the work, making sure everything matched the color scheme she’d picked out, but Hera’s wedding dress was something she’d gotten made almost entirely to her ideas.

“I like it,” Zeb said. “Is it Hera’s turn now?”

Sabine’s face lit up, and she came over to Hera.

“Can’t put it off forever.”

“I’m not putting anything off,” Hera said, crossing her arms. “I just wanted to see you two first.”

“Doesn’t matter what we look like,” Zeb commented. “Everyone just looks at the bride and groom.”

“I know, I know,” Hera said. “Give me a minute.”

Hera got up walked behind the white partition wall of the tailor’s shop, where one of the assistants- a pale human with long, dark hair, handed her a long, black garment bag. Hera nodded and thanked him, and then stepped into one of the small dressing rooms. It was a plain, small white room with a thin, tall mirror and a bench jutting out of one of the walls, lit by a bright, glowing panel on the ceiling. The door shut behind her, and Hera hung the garment bag up on a silver hook that was mounted on the wall. She unzipped the bag and pulled it away, and her mouth fell open when she looked at her wedding dress for the first time.

It was truly beautiful. The dress was long, white, adorned with lace, and much fancier than anything she’d ever worn before. Pale yellow constellations were embroidered all over the skirt of the dress, not immediately visible against the white fabric. The top was a soft, silk material that would hug her, with sleeves that would rest just off of her shoulders. Hera swallowed hard as she looked over the dress, and started to unbutton the simple gray shirt she was wearing so that she could start to put on her dress.

Once Hera was undressed, she finally started to climb in. She struggled to be careful not to step on any of the lace, and pulled the seam of the skirt up over her hips, she reached around behind her and pulled the zipper up as far as she could. She smoothed the skirt out- it flared a little bit, but it wasn’t too big- and she could feel the tiny threads that formed the constellations under her fingers. She straightened her back and stepped out of the changing room.

Before she could go around the partition wall that divided the back rooms of the tailor’s to the showing room she had borrowed with Zeb and Sabine, the assistant quickly stopped her to zip up the rest of her dress. Hera thanked him, and then walked so she was hidden behind the wall.

“Ready?”

“Yes!” They both answered enthusiastically, and Hera chuckled. She stepped out from behind the wall, and smiled as she saw both of their mouths fall open, just as hers did.

“What do you think?” she asked after a tense moment of silence. 

“You look amazing,” Sabine said.

Hera stepped into the room, approaching the larger mirror that the showing room had, and admiring the dress. The tailor had apparently measured her very accurately, as the dress fit perfect. Sabine and Zeb both came in behind her, and Hera watched their faces in the mirror. 

“Kanan would love it,” Zeb said. “If, you know…”

Hera nodded quietly, and used her hand to feel the raised bumps of the embroidered constellations on the skirts, and the smooth material of the upper part of the dress that was gentle to the touch.

“I think he will,” she said with a gentle smile.

* * *

Kanan felt a little bad for Ezra.

He, Ezra and Jacen had been signed out a different room from Hera, Zeb and Sabine to try on their wedding outfits, and poor Ezra had been stuck answering all of Kanan’s questions about how things looked.

They’d put Jacen’s outfit on first. According to Ezra, Sabine had picked out a little black suit with a pale yellow scarf that wrapped around his neck and tucked into the jacket. Kanan already knew the scarf would be taken off and dirtied by the end of the wedding day, but he was sure it looked cute in the meantime.

Then Ezra had put on his suit- an apparently pale yellow suit with a long jacket and a white shirt underneath.

And now it was Kanan’s turn. The tailor’s assistant, who Kanan was pretty sure belonged to a species with multiple arms, had helped Kanan get into his suit, and was buttoning up his cape.

The assistant finished, and Kanan heard them quietly step away. Kanan turned back and forth, getting a feel for how the cloak felt hanging from him, and so that he could get a feel for the movement his suit allowed.

“Do you want me to describe the colors yet?” Ezra asked. Kanan nodded, and Ezra continued.

“Your suit is white, and the shirt you’re wearing under it is black. And the cloak is a really light purple.”

Kanan nodded. “What do you think, Jacen?” Kanan asked.

“Good,” Jacen said, clearly not interested and close to falling asleep. Kanan chuckled.

“Do you think Hera will like it?”

“Definitely,” Ezra answered. “You look really nice. She’ll be really happy.”

Kanan nodded, and reached down to hold the cloak in his hands so he could feel the soft material of it. He certainly hoped that Hera would like the way he looked on her wedding day, and approve of Sabine’s outfit choice for him. He felt like he looked good, and Ezra said he did, so he had to assume that was the truth.

He knew Hera was going to look amazing in her wedding clothes. No matter what they were. Even if he’d never be able to see them.


	14. Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan asks Rex to serve as his guardian in the wedding ceremony

Kanan took the warm mug of caf from Rex, thanking him before slowly bringing it to his lips to take a sip. As he swallowed, he resisted the urge to make a face, as Rex apparently liked his caf like Hera did- nearly black. Kanan preferred adding a lot of sugar and milk himself, but he wasn’t going to tell Rex that.

He didn’t want to make himself anymore nervous than he already was.

“What did you want to talk about?” Rex asked. Kanan leaned forward to set the mug down, careful to feel and make sure there was a solid table underneath. He’d broken a few glasses that way.

“The wedding,” Kanan said. He heard Rex’s clothes rustle quietly and the low groan of the leather chair as he shifted in his seat.

“I already told Hera I was coming.”

“No, I know, I know. It’s just… part of Twi’lek tradition means that I need to have parents with me for the ceremony. The problem is that I don’t have any parents- or I don’t know them, anyway.”

There was a long pause, and Kanan heard Rex’s chair creak again.

“I think I know what you want from me.”

Kanan nodded. “You don’t have to. It sounds like a lot of work- I’d also have to stay with you for the week leading up to the wedding, since Hera and I aren’t allowed to see each other, so you’d have to get to Ryloth way earlier than just when the wedding is.”

“That’s okay,” Rex said, but Kanan hardly processed his words before he continued.

“And since Hera’s dad is taking Jacen for the honeymoon, that means Jacen will probably be with us too. I understand if you don’t want to-”

“I want to,” Rex interrupted. 

“And- what?”

“I’ll be your parent for the wedding.”

Kanan smiled, and he wished he could see if Rex was smiling back at him or not. He could only guess from his tone.

“I- Rex, thank you.”

“I’m honored you even asked, Kanan.”

“You mean that?”

Rex chuckled a little bit.

“Of course I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter this week, but we're getting super close to the wedding!


	15. One Week Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As per Twi'lek tradition, Kanan and Hera spend one week apart from one another before their wedding.

Hera, kneeling on the ground, hugged Jacen tight, as tight as she could, pressing her lips against the side of his head. His soft hair brushed against her face, and Hera let go of the hug, leaning back but still keeping her hands on his shoulders.

“I’ll miss you so much,” Hera said, smiling at him. Jacen nodded.

“Me too.”

Hera brushed her light green fingers through his short, dark green hair.

“I’ll see you at the wedding, and we’ll have fun, okay? But you have to be good for Daddy and Rex.”

Jacen nodded again, and Hera quickly ruffled his hair and stood up. She looked over to Kanan, who was smiling warmly. She swallowed and finally walked over to him, and carefully took his hands. He chuckled.

“Just a week,” Kanan said.

“Exactly.”

“And next time we’re together, we’ll be getting married.”

“Mmhmm.”

Hera lifted herself up onto the balls of her feet, and kissed his cheek, before moving her face closer to his ear.

“I’ll miss you, even if it’s just a week.”

Kanan let go of her hands, only to pull her into a hug just a second later. Hera chuckled and wrapped her arms around him too. 

“We’ll take good care of Jacen,” he said.

“I know you will.”

“Just enjoy spending time with your dad.”

“I will.”

Hera broke apart the hug, and looked over to see Jacen, standing in front of Rex with the captain’s hands sitting on his shoulders. She smiled, and nudged Kanan in that direction with her arm.

“Go, have fun. See you at the wedding, love.”

He smiled at her. “At the wedding.”

Kanan heard Hera’s footsteps trail off as she went away to join her father to stay with him. Kanan was to stay with Rex, who was in a small Rylothian cottage for the week. Jacen had been excited about it ever since he told them- he loved Rex, loved visiting Ryloth, and was looking forward to a big vacation.

Kanan was excited too- mostly for the actual wedding, and  _ finally _ getting to marry Hera, but when it came to his week with Rex, he was… a little nervous, to say the least. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Rex, because of course he did, but the idea of staying an entire week with him had been putting him on edge for a little while now.

But mostly, he was really just looking forward to being married to Hera. And he had just had one more week left to go.

Rex drove them to the cottage in a landspeeder. Jacen rode on Kanan’s lap, and on the short ride there, Rex mostly just asked Jacen about the times he’d visited Ryloth previously, and if he was excited for the wedding, all questions that Jacen gleefully babbled answers to.

When they arrived at the cottage, Rex pulled the landspeeder to a stop and helped Jacen out of the car. Kanan thanked him and got up himself, taking some of the bags from the back to start to help Rex bring them in.

As he heard Jacen giggling with Rex over something, a smile formed on his face.

This was going to be a pretty fun week.

* * *

Cham set a bowl down in front of Hera, and she smiled and thanked him. She waited for him to sit down himself before she took her utensils and started to eat her dinner.

The last few days with her father had been very nice. She missed Kanan and Jacen, of course, and the cocktail of nerves and excitement as her wedding approached was becoming more and more full, but she enjoyed spending time on Ryloth, eating her father’s cooking and leaning on his shoulder as they watched some of her favorite holomovies as a child or looked at old holographs. 

“This is delicious, Dad,” she said. “Thank you.  
He smiled at her from across the table. “Of course, little one. Only a few more days, huh?”

Hera chuckled. “Yeah, almost there.”

She took another bite of her food.

“You excited?” Cham asked.

Hera nodded.

“And nervous?”

Hera hesitated, but then nodded again. Cham laughed quietly at her.

“It’ll be great.”

Hera swallowed her food, and smiled at him.

“I know.”

Kanan gently kissed Jacen’s forehead, but didn’t even hear him stir. He smiled and slowly crept out of the room, being careful not to bump anything or make noise until he was out of the room in the cottage that they’d designated as Jacen’s bedroom in the cottage. He walked out, dragging his fingers along the wall, counting his steps until he was sure that he was next to the living room of the cottage. He carefully walked over towards the couch, feeling for it, and sat down next to Rex.

Kanan sat with him quietly for a few moments, listening to the news broadcast that Rex was watching, and he heard Rex chuckle quietly under the drone of the newscasters’ voices.

“What?” Kanan asked.

“Nothing. Just never thought I’d go to a Jedi wedding.”

“I’m hardly a Jedi anymore, I think.”

“Nah,” Rex said. “You’re one of the best of ‘em.”

There was a long pause between the two, while the news broadcast switched to a commercial break, advertising a new model of cleaning droid. Kanan tilted his head.

“You mean that?”

“I do,” Rex answered. “I mean- you’re still no Skywalker.”

Kanan laughed.

“But-” Rex continued. “I’ve met a lot of Jedi, and I’ve met few I like as much as I like you.”

Kanan nodded slowly.

“That’s a big honor, Captain. And I have to say- I don’t think I’ve ever met a soldier I respect as much as you.”

Rex clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Glad to hear that.”

* * *

Two knocks sounded on the door of the bedroom Hera was staying in.

“It’s open,” she said.

Cham opened the door, and slowly stepped into the room, leaning a little on his cane. Hera smiled at him.

“Do you need anything?” Cham asked.

Hera shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Just a good night’s rest.”

Cham walked over and sat on the bed next to her, laying his cane across the blankets.

“Tomorrow,” he said wistfully. “My little Hera is getting married.”

Hera chuckled. “I know. I- I never thought I’d get this. Not after I lost Kanan.”

Cham cupped her cheek in his palm. “But here we are.”

Hera beamed, but then pursed her lips. She let her head fall a little bit, still resting her face against her father’s hand.

“I wish Mom was here,” she confessed quietly

Cham nodded somberly.

“I do too. She’d be so proud of you, Hera, not just for getting married, but for everything you’ve done. The war, taking care of that crew of yours, raising Jacen- all of it.”

Hera looked at him, her eyes watering.

“And I’m proud of you too. I never could have asked for a better daughter.”

Hera wrapped her arms around him tightly, and he hugged her back just as tight. She sighed, and rested against her father, finding comfort in being held by him. He pulled away first, and Hera smiled at him.

“Thank you.”

Cham nodded. “I have something for you.”

He reached into his shirt pocket with one hand, and pulled something out, the loop of a gold chain hanging from his closed fist. He motioned for Hera to open her palm, which she did, and he gently placed what he was holding in his hand. Hera looked down at her hands while he pulled his away, and gasped quietly.

She instantly recognized what it was. Attached to the gold necklace chain was a smooth, white stone pendant that formed a four-sided diamond shape. She ran over the stone with her thumb, and looked up at her dad.

“This was Mom’s.”

Cham nodded. “She wore it on our wedding day. I thought you might want it for yours.”

Hera smiled.

“I thought all of her jewelry would’ve been destroyed when I… uh-”

“Blew up the house?”

Hera nodded, lips pursed as Cham quietly chuckled. “Yes.”

Her father shook his head. “Most of it probably was. But, before the Empire forced us out, I had been able to take some of the smaller things that belonged to our family without them knowing. And this was one of them.”

Hera squeezed her hand around the pendant, and held it close to her chest.

“It’s perfect, Dad. Thank you.”

“Are we gonna see Mommy tomorrow?” Jacen asked as Kanan tucked him into bed. Kanan smiled and nodded.

“Mmhmm. Me and Mommy are getting married tomorrow, remember? We’re going to have that big party, and everyone is coming.”

“And then I go with Grandpa?”

Kanan chuckled. “Yes, then you have a sleepover with Grandpa.”

Kanan kissed Jacen’s forehead.

“But we’re going to have a long day tomorrow, so you should make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight so that you’re all rested up. You don’t want to be tired for Mommy, right?”

“Uh-uh.”

“Good. So let’s get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay Daddy.”

Kanan smiled and kissed his forehead again, bidding Jacen goodnight as he went to his own room to get some sleep for himself.

He’d missed Hera over the past week. A lot. But he knew that just meant that they’re reunion tomorrow was going to be even sweeter, even more exciting.

Maybe the Twi’leks were onto something with this tradition.


	16. Wedding Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day is finally here- Kanan and Hera are getting married, surrounded by their friends and family.

Hera normally didn’t analyze her own appearance all that much, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the mirror.

Sabine was behind her, wearing her pale purple suit with her hair dyed to match it. The white collar of her shirt was stark and fresh. Sabine was holding pale yellow ribbons in her hands, taking careful measure to wrap them in criss-cross pattern down Hera’s lekku.

“Honestly,” Sabine said. “I’ve been practicing on Ketsu’s arms, but this is actually a lot easier.”

Hera chuckled. The ribbons were the same color as the intricate embroidery on the headdress she wore over her head, covering the base of her lekku where a flight cap normally would. And all of it matched her wedding dress, which was long, lacy and white with yellow embroidered constellations that made a texture that Hera kept running over with her fingers.

Sabine finished wrapping Hera’s lekku, leaving little tails at the end for Kanan to pull for the ceremony, and smiled, satisfied.

“You look beautiful, Hera.”

Hera smiled, and turned away from the mirror to look at Sabine.

“So do you.”

Sabine nodded. “Are you ready?”

Hera reached a hand to her collarbone, where her mother’s pendant rested on her chest, just above the neckline of her dress, and nodded back to Sabine.

“Keep your head straight,” Ezra said. He tugged lightly on Kanan’s hair, trying to keep it as neat as possible. Ezra had explained to him what he was doing- two braids along the sides that would come together into a small bun on the back of his head. It was a much more complicated style than Kanan had ever worn in his life, but Sabine had suggested it, and she seemed to know what Hera liked. He really just hoped Hera would appreciate it.

Even if he wouldn’t be able to appreciate how beautiful he knew she looked.

Kanan pursed his lips. “Sorry, kid.”

“It’s fine.”

Kanan felt a gentle pull on his scalp again, and then the light press of a hairpin going into a bun of hair to hold it in place.

“Done?” Kanan asked.

“Mmhmm.”

Kanan gingerly lifted his hands to barely touch the style Ezra had down. He could feel the braids, and the tight bump of the bun on his head.

“You did a good job.”

“Thanks,” Ezra said. “Are you ready?

Kanan stood up, and felt the cape that hung on his back sway a little as he did.

Kanan had been ready for this for a very, very long time.

Cham kissed Hera’s cheek. They stood together behind partitions set up on each ends- Twi’lek wedding layouts differed slightly than some other cultures- there was a long path down the middle, where the companions and the ring bearers would walk, then were two paths that combined into the one to reach the wedding altar for the spouses-to-be to take.

“You’re nervous,” Cham said.

Hera smiled. “A good kind of nervous. I’m excited.”

She heard the Rylothian flutes play a light tune- Kanan was walking down his path with Rex. She leaned towards the edge of the partition, but her father took her arm and gently pulled her back.

“No peeking,” he scolded quietly. Hera snorted.

“I’ll see him in just a minute.”

“So you can wait.”

Hera shook her head, laughing quietly at her father.

The flutes stopped for a moment, then switched to a different tune. Hera straightened her back, and her father put his arm out wordlessly. Hera smiled and linked her arm with his, and they stepped out of the partitioned area, down the pathway. The decorations of the wedding stood out to her- while the clearing in the forest itself had a natural beauty, but Sabine had decorated it beautifully. There were plenty of chairs and round tables set out for all of the guests, and white pillars wrapped in yellow and purple flowers (not Rylothian flowers- she had no idea where Sabine had gotten them) stood around the edge of the clearing, connected by long, thick strings of yellow and purple fabric draped from the tops. 

Hera felt herself grow an impossibly large smile as she saw her family standing at the end, on the altar. Sabine stood on her side, wearing her suit, and Zeb stood in the center with his simple dark robes. Rex and Ezra stood together to the other side, Rex wearing a dark suit similar to the one her father wore, while Ezra had a pale yellow suit that was almost the exact same style as Sabine’s.

But Hera couldn’t take her eyes off of Kanan. He looked like she had before only dreamed he ever would- wearing a pristine white suit with a traditional Twi’leki wedding cape, colored light purple with darker trim around the edges, and his hair was done up in a nice style that she’d never seen him wear before. 

She was still simply staring at him by the time they reached the end of the path, and took a couple steps up to the slightly raised platform. She took care to make sure her father was up safely, and heard the quiet click of his cane as he went to stand behind her, next to Sabine. She kept staring at Kanan, as the flute music began to die down.

“I like your hair,” she whispered. Kanan smiled, but she could see the tiniest twinge of sadness in his eyes- she couldn’t imagine how bad he felt about not being able to see her. She reached to take his hands in hers, and squeezed them.

Zeb cleared his throat. “Welcome, everyone,” he said. “Obviously, we’re all here to see Kanan and Hera get married- finally.”

There was some quiet laughter from the crowd, and Hera couldn’t help but chuckle herself. She looked out at the crowd, at all the familiar faces. Mostly Rebellion fighters and members of Clan Syndulla, and she was so grateful to see how many people had travelled all the way to Ryloth for herself and Kanan. 

“I’ve known Kanan and Hera almost as long as they’ve known each other,” Zeb continued. “They were just a young couple that let me stay with them when I needed a home- and a family. You will never meet two people more caring or strong, or more perfect for each other. I’m not great at speeches, so- I can stop there for now. Before I perform the ceremony, I’ll let them say their vows- and don’t worry they promised to keep them pretty short. Kanan?”

Hera mouthed a quiet “thank you” to Zeb while Kanan took a deep breath to prepare himself.

“Hera,” he said finally, smiling at her. “Meeting you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You changed my life. Everyday I wake up happy knowing that it’s another day I get to be with you. The bond I have with you… it’s nothing I’ve ever felt before. I love you so, so much, and I’ve been ready for this for a very long time- for years- and even after today, I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Kanan’s lower lip quivered as he finished. Hera’s cheeks burned as she heard quiet “aw’s” from the crowd, and she could see Zeb’s eyes welling up just slightly in the edge of her vision.

If she was being honest, she’d been dreading saying her vows to Kanan, not because she didn’t want to tell him how much she loved him, how much he meant to her, and how much he’d changed her life, because she definitely did, but she dreaded it because she’d have to say them in front of all of these people.

But she would do it anyway- because that’s how strong her love was.

“Kanan,” Hera said with a warm smile she knew he couldn’t see. “I love you. I’ve loved you for  _ years _ , even if I didn’t always show you as much as I should have. Being with you has taught me so much, about myself and about the galaxy. But mostly, about you. Every time I learn something new about you, I fall in love a little bit more, even when that doesn’t seem possible. And I look forward to falling a little bit more in love every day, for the rest of our lives.”

She swallowed hard, and she saw a single tear slip down Kanan’s cheek. She squeezed his hands while Zeb started again, sniffling and quickly wiping at his nose with his sleeves.

“That- well, I think they said enough,” Zeb said. “So, it is my honor, given to me by these two, to unite them in marriage. May they live in prosperity and happiness- and begin with a kiss.”

Hera quickly took her hands away from Kanan’s only to throw her arms over his shoulders. He kissed her deeply- it was, after all, their first kiss in a week- and wrapped his hands around her waist. Hera pulled away first, still wrapped around him, and rested her head on his, laughing quietly, and she heard him do the same over the sound of claps from all of their guests.

_ Finally _ , was all she could think.

“Now,” Zeb said, chuckling himself. “The rings.”

Hera looked to Zeb and smiled at him.

“Thank you, Zeb.”

He smiled back at her. “I was happy to,” he whispered. “Had to memorize all that, though.”

Hera chuckled, and felt Kanan squeeze her tight in a hug. She looked out to see Chopper rolling down the aisle, with Jacen, clad in a little black suit with a yellow scarf, walking by his side, and gasped with delight.

She had so, so badly missed her son.

Jacen’s eyes lit up when their gazes met.

“Mommy!” Jacen squealed, and he took off to a run down the aisle. A few guests laughed, and Hera couldn’t help but join them. She knelt down to bring him into a tight, close hug, rubbing her face against his and peppering his cheek with kisses while he giggled.

“I missed you,” he said.

Hera cupped his cheek with his palm, the edges of her fingers in the hair over his ear.

“I missed you too,” she responded. “So much.”

Chopper caught up, rolling up the slight stairs while warbling indignantly. Hera laughed, and reached over with one hand to rub it over his dome. Kanan was knelt down with them too now, his arms sliding over Hera’s shoulders. Chopper warbled and held up a little pouch with one of his claw-like arms, and Hera nodded.

“Of course, of course. I’ll take them Chop.”

“No!” Jacen cried out. He reached over to snatch the dangling pouch away from Chopper, and then smiled sweetly as he extended it to Hera.

“Daddy said that’s my job,” Jacen explained.

Hera laughed and took the pouch from him, nodding.

“Thank you, Jacen,” she said.

She emptied the two rings onto her hand, and handed the pouch back to Chopper. She stood up, tapping Kanan’s shoulder so he would too. She pressed one of the rings into his palm, and then gently extended her right hand out.

“On the middle finger, love,” she whispered.

He nodded, and reached forward tentatively with his hand to find hers. Gently, he ran over each knuckle with his thumb, counting before settling on the right finger. He slowly slid the ring down her finger, until it reached the base, and Hera smiled at him.

“That’s right?” Kanan asked quietly.

“Yes,” she said, matching his low volume. “Your turn. The left hand.”

Kanan extended his hand out, and Hera slowly slid the ring down his finger too, before taking the hand that wore his ring in the hand that wore hers, squeezing his hand tight and smiling. The guests started clapping again, and Hera smiled, reaching down to gently tousle Jacen’s hair.

“As is tradition,” Zeb said once the applause died down. “Kanan and Hera will do the swapping of the garments.”

Hera smiled, and turned around so Kanan could unwind the ribbons from her lekku. She faced her father and Sabine- her father didn’t have tears in his eyes, but she could tell he might as well have. Sabine had the biggest smile she’d ever seen her wear, and was holding her hands clasped tight in excitement.

“Sabine,” Hera said quietly. “You should help him.”

Sabine nodded, stepping up to go behind Hera. Hera felt some gentle tugs at the ribbons on her lekku, until they finally came loose, unraveling. She turned around, and saw Sabine taking care to wrap them around Kanan’s arms, over the sleeves of his jacket, and he just stood there and let her. Sabine finished rather quickly, and then stepped back behind Hera again. Kanan raised an eyebrow.

“My turn?”

“Mmhmm.”

Kanan turned around, and Hera stepped forward to reach up to his shoulders to unclasp his cape. As she stood up to do so, she could see Rex and Ezra both smiling at her from over his shoulder. Hera winked at them quickly as she managed to undo the clasp, and stepped back, letting the soft purple fabric sweep over Kanan’s white suit, then she reached around to fashion it around herself, over her white dress. Kanan turned around as she did so, and when Hera put her arms down once the clasp was done, more applause erupted from the tables.

Hera looked over her guests- an assortment of friends and family, and looked around on the platform with her. Sabine and her father stood on her side, Rex and Ezra on Kanan’s, Zeb in the middle of it all, and Jacen and Chopper right in front of them.

She felt her eyes starting to get wet- she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Kanan managed to pull Hera aside from all the people congratulating them both while some tables got moved to set up for the reception, behind a tree on the edge of the clearing. Hera kissed him, and he eagerly kissed her back, holding her close. He rested his forehead on hers.

“You’re my wife,” he whispered. It was still a little hard for him to wrap his mind around- and he’d seen a lot of crazy things in the galaxy.

Hera chuckled in response. “You’re my husband.”

They rested together a few more moments, until Hera leaned back.

“We should really get back- people are going to wonder.”

Kanan nodded. “I know. I just- I wanted to say I was proud of you.”

“Proud of me?” Hera asked.

He couldn’t see her, but he could just imagine her with an eyebrow cocked and her head tilted, and the image made him want to crack a smirk.

“Yes. I know how you are about- talking about those kinds of things, especially in front of all those people. That couldn’t have been easy for you, but I’m proud that you did it anyway.”

“Oh,” Hera said quietly. “That- that’s sweet, love. But I was able to do it because of you. Our love… it makes me stronger.”

Kanan nodded. “Of course. But you’re just glad you don’t have to do it again.”

Hera snorted. “Definitely. Come on, we can’t miss the party.”

Hera took his hand and pulled him back towards the mass of people, and Kanan couldn’t have wiped the giant smile off of his face if he wanted to.

And he definitely didn’t want to.


	17. Wedding Reception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the ceremony, Kanan and Hera have their wedding reception, and their wedding night.

Kanan swayed back and forth with Hera to the gentle tune of  _ Ma Sareen _ , an old Twi’leki song sung by a deep-voiced man and accompanied by string tunes. Her head rested on his chest and he had his hand on her back, while his other hand clasped hers away from him while they danced.

It was their first dance as a married couple, and their first dance in public- before, their dances had been kept relatively private in kitchens, living rooms or bedrooms while music quietly played from a radio. Kanan felt a little exposed, to be entirely honest. He knew dancing was something very public for a lot of people, and he himself had danced in public many times in his past, but with Hera… it was different. It’s like all of these guests were getting a big peek into their private lives, into his sensual moments with Hera. But he just focused on the feeling of the woman in his arms, and how lucky he was to be here, married to her, after all these years.

“Everyone’s watching us,” Hera said quietly.

“I thought that was the point,” Kanan whispered back.

“I know that. It’s just… weird.”

“I agree. This song is a lot longer than I remembered.”

Hera chuckled, and he felt her lift her head to press a kiss to his cheek.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too.”

The singer on the recording held on to one long, final note, and the instrumental started to slowly fade out. When it finished, Kanan let go of Hera, and she stepped back. There was clapping coming from the guests, and he smiled.

“That’s my dance- you still have another one,” he said to her. Hera elbowed his side, and Kanan chuckled before walking back to sit down, being careful to reach out with the Force to find his chair at the head table. He heard another song start just after he sat down, and assumed that Hera had started her dance with her father.

“That was really sweet,” Zeb said quietly to Kanan. Kanan smiled, but before he could thank him, he heard Hera’s voice play over the speakers.

“For those of you who don’t speak Twi’leki, this song is about fathers and daughters,” Hera said. “And my father and I would like to allow anybody with that kind of connection to another to come dance with us.”

Kanan smiled.

_ Nice trick to keep it so everyone isn’t just watching you dance, Hera, _ he thought. Kanan didn’t have time to linger on that too long before he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

“Kanan…”

It was Sabine’s voice, and Kanan knew what she was going to ask. He gave her a moment to say it herself, but she didn’t.

“I’d love to,” Kanan said. He got up out of his seat, and took her hand as she led him to the dance floor. He pulled Sabine close to him, and they swayed back and forth on the dance floor. He could hear a few of the other people who had joined them- he could hear Jarek sweet-talking his little daughter and he heard Gobi and Numa chattering quietly in their Rylothian-accented voices. 

They continued to sway back and forth to the song, dancing. Sabine laughed when Kanan took an opportunity to twirl her around before pulling her close again.

“Sabine,” Kanan whispered. “We are so grateful for you. You worked so hard to make this wedding nice for us, when you didn’t need to. Thank you.”

Sabine was quiet, but Kanan didn’t need her to say anything as they continued to dance through the end of the song.

“This is delicious, Zeb,” Hera said before she took another bite off of her fork.

“Ezra picked that one, actually,” Zeb said. Hera smiled and looked over at Ezra.

“Really?”

Ezra nodded. “Yeah, Zeb needed some help with the menu.”

“Didn’t  _ need _ it,” Zeb protested.

Hera chuckled. “Well, both of you did a great job, all the food is great.”

She looked next to her to see Kanan sawing at a piece of meat trying to cut it into pieces for Jacen, who sat next to him at the head table, along with the rest of their crew, her father and Rex.

Chopper bumped into Hera’s chair as she was about to take another bite, and she looked down.

“What, Chop?”

He grumbled something, gesturing with one of the spindly mechanical arms that protruded from his dome. Hera nodded.

“Of course you can,” Hera said. “I didn’t know you wanted to.”

Chopper gave her a little salute, and rolled himself out onto the empty dance floor between the head table and the rest of the guests’ tables.

“What’s he doing?” Zeb asked.

Hera swallowed her food. “He wanted to give a speech.”

“Who?” Kanan asked.

“Chopper,” she answered.

Hera saw Kanan’s mouth open as he was about to ask another question, but he was cut off by loud warbles coming from the astromech droid. Hera set her fork down to watch and give Chopper her full attention- they hadn’t planned on letting anyone give speeches for the wedding (mostly because their immediate family hadn’t expressed interest in it, and Kanan and Hera didn’t have much of a desire to let people that didn’t really know them all that well talk about their relationship). Chopper continued, going on for a little bit, rolling in loops around the dance floor and gesturing with mechanical arms as he went on. By looking over the other tables, Hera could tell that most of her guests didn’t know droidspeak, and had no idea what Chopper was saying.

But Hera did. And she felt the familiar sting in her eyes that warned of potential tears. Chopper had seen nearly all of Kanan and Hera’s relationship, ever since the beginning. He was the only one there that knew them both before they were a couple, and he told their story in his speech- and how ever since the beginning, he could tell that there was affection between them, even before either of them expressed it.

Chopper stopped, and his holoprojector lit up- illuminated on the floor were semi-transparent figures of Kanan and Hera, changing as Chopper selected different images to display. Many were old, and brought a smile to Hera’s face as she saw their younger forms laughing together, cooking and eating meals together, gazing at each other over a game of dejarik, or stealing secret glances at one another in the cockpit of the  _ Ghost _ . She was watching herself and Kanan grow older, as some of the holos had Zeb, Sabine or Ezra in them. Hera smiled as Chopper continued to warble while going through, finally stopping on a holovid of Hera pulling Kanan into a kiss on Lothal, cupping his cheek in her hand before breaking the kiss, and taking his bearded chin in her fingers and tilting it up while they both smiled.

The holovid fizzled out when Chopper turned off his projector, and he finished with a warbled “thank you” before rolling back up the ramp to join the family at the head table. Hera got up from her chair to go greet him, kneeling down with her dress and Kanan’s cloak spreading around her as she did. She put both of her hands on the sides of Chopper’s dome, looking straight into his photoreceptor with a teary smile.

“That was beautiful, Chopper,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”

Chopper warbled cheerily, and rolled past her to go stand next to Jacen. She sat back down in her own chair, and put a hand over Kanan’s on the table, gently drawing lines over the back of his hand with her finger.

Kanan stood with Hera, resting a hand on her back. He could feel the soft, satiny material of the torso of her dress, and kept running over it with his hand. A quick pitter-patter sound came close to them. 

“Mommy?” Jacen’s small voice asked.

“Yes?”

“Can you hold this for me?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Hera said. Kanan heard a quiet rustling of fabric “Are you going to dance?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Alright. Be careful, okay?”

“Okay!” Jacen yelped cheerfully. He ran off towards the dance floor, and Hera rested her hand on Kanan’s arm.

“What did he need you to hold?” Kanan asked.

“Just his little scarf,” Hera said. “I don’t have pockets, though, love, would you mind-?”

Kanan extended his hand out with a quiet laugh, and felt Hera press the bundled up fabric into his hand.

“Hera Syndulla, wearing something without pockets?” Kanan said, pushing the small scarf into the interior pocket of his jacket. “Never thought I’d hear that.”

Hera snorted and playfully pushed him.

“It’s our wedding. I’m allowed to put fashion over function for one day.”

Kanan laughed as he stepped back towards her, putting an arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. He heard footsteps approach. 

“Hello,” said the deep voice of Jarek Yeager. “Congratulations, both of you.”

Kanan gave a small wave.

“Yeager, right?” Hera said. “I remember you.”

Jarek chuckled. “Of course- and I definitely remember you, General. This is my wife, and this is my daughter,” he said. “Just wanted to thank you for inviting us.”

“When Jarek said we were invited to General Syndulla’s wedding,” a woman’s voice said- this must’ve been Jarek’s wife. “I thought he was joking. We’re grateful you wanted us here.”

“Of course,” Hera said. “We’re happy you were able to come.”

The Yeagers thanked them again and as they walked off towards the dance floor, Hera nudged Kanan.

“That little girl is adorable,” she said.

Kanan smiled. “You saying you want another one?”

She jabbed her elbow into his side, and he laughed, before leaning close, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her in.

“Thought that was what the honeymoon’s for,” he said in a low voice, his lips nearly brushing her earcone. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and she elbowed him again.

“Decorum, Jarrus,” Hera said.

“It’s Syndulla, now,” he said, not even trying to hide a cheeky smile. “You’re stuck with me, we signed the papers.”

Hera snorted. “Mm. Lucky you.”

Kanan laughed and kissed the top of her head, feeling the lacy headdress that covered it.

“Am I interrupting?”

Kallus’ accented voice shocked Kanan, who promptly pulled his arm away from Hera in shock- as if Kallus somehow didn’t know the bride and groom of the wedding he was attending were together.

“No, Kall- er, Aleks,” Hera corrected herself. “Do you need anything?”

“Just wanted to offer my congratulations,” Kallus said.

“Thank you,” Kanan said. “I’m sure it was a long flight to come out here from Lirasan.”

“It was,” Kallus agreed. “But it was very important to Zeb, and you both have done a lot for me. I was happy to.”

“Thank you, Aleks,” Hera said. Footsteps faded away, and Kallus walked off- Kanan couldn’t imagine him dancing, but he seemed to be headed in that direction.

“Still weird to call him Aleks,” Kanan mumbled.

As the celebration continued, Kanan was able to sneak in another dance with Hera- it was much less nerve-wracking knowing that they were just among friends, and didn’t have all eyes on them. While swaying back and forth with her, he bumped into someone else, and they ended up dancing side-by-side with another couple.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Ahsoka Tano said, her voice a little hard for Kanan to hear over the music. “And for letting me bring Kaedan along.”

Kanan smiled, while he heard a quiet, joking protest of “hey!” from the woman he assumed was named Kaedan. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m happy for you,” Ahsoka continued. “Both of you.”

“Thank you,” Kanan responded, continuing to dance with Hera.

Ahsoka didn’t have to point out how untraditional this was for a Jedi, or for someone who called themselves a Jedi. They both were aware, and Kanan was glad she didn’t feel the need to point it out.

A new song picked up the speed, and Kanan and Hera danced differently to match it, though Hera kept her hand on his arm and slowly pulled him from the dance floor as the song ended.

“Something wrong?” Kanan asked.

“No,” Hera said quickly. “My aunt is coming over. Behave.”

“Like I would-”

He was cut off by a woman’s voice that had a thick Rylothian accent.

“Little Hera!”

“Aunt Nima,” Hera said sweetly. He heard the grunt of Hera being crushed by a hug and chuckled at a low volume, before he was crushed in a hug himself- this woman was a lot stronger than she sounded.

“I’m so happy for you, little Hera,” Nima said. “And you just look so beautiful, I mean- a little princess if I ever saw one.”

Kanan felt his face grow a little warmer- Hera deserved all the compliments thrown at her, of course, but it just reminded him of the fact that everybody but him got to see how beautiful his wife looked on their wedding day.

And he could tell Hera thought something similar, because a gentle hand rested on his bicep.

“I remember when you were little,” Nima continued. “Just a sweet little Hera-bean...”

Hera cleared her throat while her Aunt Nima walked away, humming happily to herself. She looked over to Kanan, to see him with an amused smile and an eyebrow cocked.

“Hera-bean?”

“Please don’t.”

Kanan shook his head, laughing, and hugged her.

“Sorry, hun,” he said. “You know I love you.”

“I’d hope so,” Hera said, resting against him. “Because I love you too.”

She pulled away from him and looked towards the dance floor, watching their friends of and family dance. She saw Ketsu and Sabine laughing while they pulled each other around, and Jai and Ezra doing the same. Shara and Kes were dancing together, just a few steps away from where Jacen led Poe in a careful, uneasy dance, and more than anything a sloppy, childlike mimic of the adults around them. Weaved amongst all of them were Hera’s many cousins and other members of Clan Syndulla, Twi’leks of nearly all colors dancing among the rest, along with what remained of the Rebellion’s Phoenix Squadron dancing too, people of different species jumping around carelessly. Hera sighed happily, tilting her head as she watched.

The idea of having a small, intimate wedding had been lingering in her mind ever since Kanan’s proposal (and even a little bit before), but she was glad to be able to celebrate with so many people- it certainly made her happy to see so many happy people having fun.

“General Syndulla,” a woman’s voice said from behind them. Hera turned around to see a woman wearing long, gray robes and ornamental silver jewelry. Next to her was a familiar protocol droid: the slender, blue-purple form of AP-5. “I’m a representative for Chancellor Mothma. She received your invitation, but was unable to attend your wedding today to affairs on Chandrila. She’s very sorry, and hopes you’ll accept this piece of Chandrilan art as a gift of apology.”

“Oh,” Hera said, taking a small box from the woman. “Thank you- but we didn’t ask for any gifts.”

“Please, take it. The Chancellor sends her best,” the woman said, bowing her head and turning around to walk away from them. AP-5 however, lingered.

“General Syndulla,” AP-5 said. If Hera didn’t know better, she’d say the droid sounded… nervous?

“Do you happen to, eh,” he continued. “Know where C1-10P- Chopper- is?”

Hera looked around, spotting the top of an orange dome up the ramp where the head table sat.

“It looks like he’s up there,” she said, nodding her head in that direction. “You should go say hi. I think he’s missed you. And, AP- would you mind taking this up and placing it on my seat?”

“Of course not, General,” AP-5 said, in a way that suggested he definitely minded at least a little. “Thank you.”

The droid walked off with the box in one of his mechanical hands, and Hera watched him make his way over to the head table where Chopper was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Senator Leia Organa approaching her, and Hera smiled at her.

“Leia,” Hera said kindly. “I’m glad you could make it.”

Leia smiled and took Hera’s hands in hers. “So are we. Han is busy with Ben- he’s been awfully fussy lately. I just wanted to come over and say hi.”

Hera looked over to see Captain Solo and his Wookiee companion hunched over a little hoverstoller. She chuckled. “I’ve been there.”

“Of course. Congratulations, both of you. Luke was sorry he couldn’t make it, but he’s been busy with his students. Lando was… somewhere,” Leia said, looking around.

“Oh, great,” Kanan said through gritted teeth.

“I’m sure he’ll stop by,” Leia said, and Hera swore she heard a quiet groan from Kanan. “Anyway, that’s all. This is a beautiful wedding- I hadn’t been to Ryloth before, it’s nice.”

“Thank you, Senator,” Hera said. “I-”

“There they are!”

Lando Calrissian was approaching them, arms spread dramatically in a way that flared his blue cape outward.

Leia gave Hera a small nod, a smile creeping on her face. “I’ll leave you be. Thank you for the invitation, I wish you both well.”

Hera thanked her, before turning her attention to Lando as Leia walked away.

“This’ll be fun,” Kanan mumbled.

Lando reached for Hera’s hand, and she lifted it for him, allowing him to quickly press a kiss to it.

“Congratulations, Hera,” Lando said. “And Kanan. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Mmhmm,” Kanan responded.

“Seriously,” Lando said, lowering his voice dropping the grandiose tone. “I’m happy for you both. Especially you, General- I remember how busy you were taking care of the kid and the war, running yourself ragged. You deserve this.”

“Thank you, Lando,” Hera said. She could see Kanan looking a little bewildered out of the corner of her eye, and resisted a small laugh.

“Even if you didn’t let me give a speech,” Lando said, that smooth, showman-style voice sliding back in.

Hera rewarded his joke with a chuckle. “Thank you, Lando.”

“Are you going on a honeymoon?”

“To Naboo,” Hera said. “We actually leave tomorrow.”

“How fun,” Lando said. “Naboo is beautiful. I hope you enjoy yourselves.”

“Thank you,” Hera said, taking Kanan’s hand. “I think we will.”

Lando gave her a warm smile before parting with her, giving her a small bow as he backed away from them, towards the dance floor. Hera squeezed Kanan’s hand.

“Told you he was different.”

Kanan sighed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Hera looked around their wedding again, taking note of all of their happy friends and family members dancing, talking and laughing as she leaned on Kanan, letting out a happy sigh.

Kanan didn’t know what the cottage looked like, but from the drive he could tell they were a long way from where the wedding was.

They left for Naboo in the morning, but tonight they were staying a small Rylothian cottage, alone and away from anyone else. Most of their guests had left for home, and Jacen and Chopper were staying with Cham.

To be honest- Kanan was glad the wedding was over. He’d had a lot of fun getting to dance with and talk to his family and friends, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. But now he just got to be Kanan Syndulla, Hera’s husband, for the rest of his life. And that was what he’d really been looking forward to all of these years.

Hera hadn’t wasted any time pulling him to the cottage’s bedroom, and wrapping her arms around him as she kissed him deeply. Kanan mirrored her, pulling her tight against him. He could feel the soft, sik material of the dress on her waist. They broke apart, breathing just a little heavier than they were only a moment ago, foreheads resting against each other.

“Dress feels nice,” Kanan said quietly, running his fingers over it.

“Yeah,” Hera said. “I made sure the fabrics were ones you’d like to feel. Feel the skirt, too, it’s embroidered.”

Kanan moved one of his hands down to touch the lacy material of her skirt, and he could feel the small bumps of thread as he did. He furrowed his brow as he ran the material between his fingers, trying to discern what the pattern was.

“Constellations?”

“Mmhmm,” Hera answered. “Do you like it?”

“I do,” Kanan said. “You- you’re so beautiful, Hera.”

“I know,” she whispered, kissing him again before pulling away just as quickly. “So are you.”

Hera pulled the soft blanket up over her chest, breathless as she turned onto her side to see Kanan on his back, still breathing just as quickly as she was. Hera slid over in bed to be closer to him, and he haphazardly threw an arm around her to pull her close to his chest. She hummed appreciatively, running a hand over his abdomen to wrap around him too. It felt like she still just couldn’t get close enough to him.

Their breathing started to even out, and Hera looked up to see Kanan close his eyes in the darkness.

“Love?”

“Hmm?”

Hera swallowed hard.

“Do the Jedi… do they believe in soulmates?”

There was a long pause while Kanan considered her question, and Hera waited patiently, her head on his chest so she could listen to the thrum of his heartbeat.

“Not specifically,” he finally answered.

“Oh,” Hera said quietly.

“But,” Kanan continued. “I do. Jedi believe that the Force can bring two people together so they can learn from each other, or so they can create change, or for a million other reasons. I don’t see why the Force can’t bring people together because they’re meant to fall in love.”

Hera paused now, replaying his words in her mind while she thought of how to ask what she wanted to ask.

“Kanan, do you think we’re-”

“Yes,” he said. “I know we are.”


	18. Honeymoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Hera enjoy their honeymoon on Naboo.

Kanan was holding Jacen tight, kissing the top of his head gently. He was excited for the honeymoon with Hera, of course, but ever since coming back, he hadn’t been separated from Jacen for long at all. It was going to be hard being without him for so long.

Kanan released his grip on his son, but still kept his hands on his little shoulders.

“Be good for grandpa, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy,” Jacen said. “I’ll miss you.”

Kanan smiled, cupping one of Jacen’s cheeks. “I’ll miss you too, kid. But it’s only a few days. We’ll be back before you know it.”

He heard Hera finish saying goodbye to her father and Chopper, and gently nudged Jacen towards her.

“Go say bye to Mommy,”

Jacen giggled. “Okay. Bye, Daddy!”

Jacen stood up, and waited while he heard Hera exchange a quiet goodbye with their son, before letting him go off towards Cham.

“Have fun,” Kanan’s now-father-in-law said as they left.

Kanan waved with one hand as Hera pulled him into the  _ Phantom II, _ the ship they’d decided to take. Naboo wasn’t that long of a flight from Ryloth, so they didn’t need the  _ Ghost _ ’s quarters, and though the  _ Phantom II _ was fairly more cramped, reserving a hangar for the much smaller ship was way less expensive. Hera took the pilot’s chair, and Kanan sat behind her, leaning back while she took off. He felt the familiar feeling of the ship breaking atmosphere, and heard Hera press some buttons and flip some switches as they continued to fly through space.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” Hera said warmly. “It shouldn’t be too long.”

The ship lurched, and Kanan knew they were in hyperspace. He heard Hera get up so she could sit next to him. Her hand rested on his thigh.

“I can’t wait to try some authentic Naboo food,” Hera said.

“I’ve heard they use a lot of fish.”

“Yeah,” Hera said. “But I’ve heard that they also cook shaak better than anybody else.”

“We’ll have to find out.”

Hera kept the  _ Phantom II _ hovering in the air, waiting for the Theed air traffic controller to open the top so she could touch down. She saw a red light flash, and then the dome top of the small hangar slid open, and Hera slowly lowered the ship, watching for the maintenance crew below. She hit the ground and opened the ramp. When she finally turned her chair around, she could see Kanan struggling to carry both of their bags at once, and she chuckled.

“Love, I can get mine, just worry about yours.”

“No, no,” Kanan insisted. “I got it for you, I just need a better grip, just-”

His bag slipped out of his hand, and Hera caught it. Neither bags were especially heavy, since both she and her husband were light packers, but together they weren’t particularly light.

“Here, I’ll take yours, and you take mine,” Hera said, slinging his bag over her shoulder. “We’re even.”

Kanan shook his head. “You’re frustrating, you know that?”

“Hey, you married me.”

She walked down the small ramp of the ship, brushing against Kanan’s arm as she did, and she heard him follow her. A man approached her wearing a simple set of long, Naboo-style robes colored a pale gray-blue.

“Good evening. General Hera Syndulla, correct?”

Hera smiled back at him. “Yes, that’s me. I paid for the hangar in advance- is there anything else I need to do?”

“No, no, of course not. I’m an aid for Queen Soruna, and on the Queen’s behalf, I’d just wanted to welcome you to our planet. Many of us were thrilled when we heard your name had reserved a hangar here. Your heroism in the war has not gone unheard of.”

“Oh,” Hera said, feeling her face warm a little bit. “I- well, thank you.”

“Are you here looking for something? I’d be happy to assist you in anything you need.”

“I think we’ll be alright-”

“We’re on our honeymoon,” Kanan said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. The Queen’s aid looked delighted.

“How sweet!” he proclaimed. “Well, the Queen wants you to know that should you need anything, we’ll take care of you.”

He stepped towards Hera, and handed her a commlink. “This is linked to my personal channel,” he continued. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

Hera gave a polite bow of her head and tucked the commlink into her pocket, doubting she’d use it at all. She said parting goodbyes to the Queen’s aid, and watched him walk away. Kanan nudged her with his arm.

“What should we do first?”

Hera sighed. “I think we should go to our hotel room and figure out what we’re going to have for dinner.”

They hadn’t made any stops on the flight over, so she was  _ hungry _ . She heard Kanan’s stomach make a quiet rumble, and she could tell he was the same.

“Sounds like a plan.”

They had to take a train to get from the hangars on the far outskirts into the heart of Theed where their hotel was, but Hera definitely didn’t mind. Almost the entire time, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the viewport next to their seats. She could see the beautiful, domed architecture of Theed in the distance at first, but more than that, she got to see the lush, vibrant forests, the rolling hills and the rivers that snaked through them, and an art-like orange sunset acting as a backdrop for it all.

She hadn’t realized how entranced she’d been by the Naboo landscape until she felt Kanan press a kiss to her temple, and she turned to look at him.

“Love, I- do you want me to describe it?”

He shook his head. “No, that’s okay. Is it pretty?”

“It’s beautiful,” she said, looking out the window briefly before looking back to her husband. “I don’t think I’ve ever been on a planet like it. The holos don’t even do it justice.”

He smiled at her. “Then I’m glad I picked Naboo.”

Hera smiled back at him. “I am too. You have good taste.”

Kanan chuckled, and she looked back out the window, watching more trees and rocks fly by the viewport while the sun went down. The natural landscape became replaced with the domed Naboo architecture of Theed. The train slowed to a stop in a train station with tall walls of beige stone, and equally tall windows. An ornate open arch has a fence dividing the center of it, where people flow in and out of the station. Hera shouldered Kanan’s bag, and kept a grip on his hand so they wouldn’t get separated in the crowd. She stepped off the train before him, and turned around to help him down the high stair, not letting go of his hand. She pulled him through the station, into a street of Theed. The moon was just barely visible as the sun was all the way down, but decorated metal lamp-posts illuminated the stone-brick street with a soft glow.

She could see leafy vines stretching across the walls of the buildings, and flowers in baskets under arch-shaped windows. Flower-beds filled with vibrantly colored flora and dotted with trees reaching up towards the darkening sky lined the street, and Hera watched various people- humans, Gungans, and other species alike walk through under the lights, those native to Naboo dressed in long robes and dresses of various colors.

“Are we going the right way?” Kanan asked under a long while of walking.

Hera reached for the mini holoprojector in her pocket and pulled up the screen of her map that offered the directions, and nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “We just make a turn up… here, and then it’s straight ahead.”

Kanan squeezed her hand as Hera pulled him around the corner, still admiring the beauty of Theed. She could definitely tell now why Naboo was so revered by people who studied art and culture- it was absolutely gorgeous. They got closer and closer to the hotel, and Hera nudged Kanan with her elbow as they approached it.

“Stairs, dear.”

“Mmhmm.”

They walked up the wide set up stairs towards the hotel, which was made of a similar beige stone to the train station (though with a pinkish hue, Hera noticed) and topped with a mint green dome, supported by tall pillars the same color as the walls. They entered, and Hera looked up to see the top of the dome, and the lobby was surrounded with tall, arch-shaped windows. She approached the desk of a woman wearing a deep purple dress with dark hair piled atop her head, revealing an earpiece. The woman looked up at her and smiled.

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes,” Hera answered. “Syndulla.”

“Syndulla…” the woman said aloud, scrolling through a datapad. “Syndulla! Fourth floor, room four thirty-five. Do you need help taking anything up?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Hera said. The woman nodded.

“Okay. Is this your husband here?”

“Yes, Kanan,” Kanan answered.

“Nice to meet you,” the woman said. “I have here that you spoke with one of my supervisors when you made your reservation, and told us that you’re on Naboo for your honeymoon, correct?”

“Correct,” Kanan said cautiously.

“Well, congratulations,” the woman said. “And we hope you enjoy yourselves here. As a wedding gift from the Amidala Auberge, we’d like to offer you a complimentary dinner in your room your first night of stay. You’ll find a datapad with the menu in your room.”

Hera blinked in surprise.

“Thank you,” Kanan answered.

“Of course,” the woman answered, holding out a keycard that Hera took. “The lift is just down that way. Welcome to Naboo, Syndullas.”

Hera thanked her, and she walked with Kanan towards the lift.

“Can’t complain about free dinner,” he joked as they reached the lift. Hera pressed the button to take them to the fourth floor, and the lift slowly started to go up.

“At this point, I’m not going to complain about any dinner,” Hera said.

Kanan chuckled, and gently rubbed her shoulder. There was a dinging sound, and the door to the lift slid open. Hera and Kanan stepped out the entrance of the lift, and Hera looked around as the door slid closed behind them. The inside of the hotel was just as beautiful as the outside. Pristine marble floors clicked under their shoes as they walked past, Hera taking note of the room numbers on her right once they’d passed a few of the rooms. 

_ 415… 417… 419…  _

They turned around a corner, but the second hallway had the same decor as the first. The walls were a pinkish hue, accented with ornate faux-pillars. Hera counted some more rooms.

_ 421… 423… 425… 427… 429… _

Another corner, and more of the same gorgeous Naboo style. There were a few paintings hung up, beautiful, colorful depictions of the lush landscapes that Hera had admired from the train, though this time under a blue sky with a high sun. She was sure Sabine could have told her all about the techniques that were used to create the art.

_ 431… 433… _

“Four thirty-five,” Hera said. “This is it.”

She slid the keycard into the slot next to the door, and it flew open for them. She tucked the keycard into her pocket, and walked into the room, drinking in the site of the place she and Kanan would be staying for the next few days. A large, elegant bed with a dark frame and light sheets had its headboard up against the center of a long wall that was decorated with a patterned pale blue wallpaper. There was a dresser with a large holoprojector atop it and a small, dark recliner. But what really caught Hera’s eye was the beige set of curtains, and beyond them-

“We have a balcony?”

Hera put Kanan’s bag on the reclining chair, and made a beeline for the balcony. She had to push open the glass doors, but was greeted by a friendly breeze cooling her face. A set of chairs and a small table were on the balcony with her, but all Hera cared to look at was the horizon. It was much harder to see under the moonlight, but Hera had a nice view of some of Theed, and of the natural parts of Naboo.

She felt Kanan at her side a few moments later, hearing a quiet “thunk” as he set something on the metal table. He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Want to eat dinner out here?” Kanan asked.

“If you don’t mind, love.”

She turned around to look at him, admiring how the glow of the lamps from their room created a soft halo around him, and how the few loose strands of his hair looked blowing lightly in the wind.

“Not at all. It feels nice out here. I found the datapad,” he said, motioning with a hand towards where he’d set it down on the datapad. “You should order for us.”

Hera nodded, and sat down, taking the datapad in her hands. He sat down across from her, and Hera opened the screen of the datapad to look at the menu.

“What do you want, love?”

“They have sliced roast nuna-”

“I’ll take that.”

“You didn’t even hear what else they have!”

Kanan shrugged. “That sounds good to me.”

Hera rolled her eyes, but selected it, along with a shaak pot roast for herself and a roll of five-blossom bread for them to split. She got to the wine section, and almost just finished the order, but paused when she saw they had the option to provide Naboo’s famous wines de-alcoholized.

“Kanan, Naboo’s wines, uh-”

“I won’t be upset if you drink, Hera,” Kanan said.

“No, I know that. It’s just not fair to you. But, I’ve heard amazing things about the wines here, and they have some without any alcohol. We could each try a glass… if you’re comfortable with that.”

Kanan paused, and she could tell he was considering it.

“You don’t have to, though, love.”

Kanan shook his head. “No, I want to. It’s been long enough, I can have some. Just make sure they’re dealcoholized.”

Hera smiled, relieved. “Of course. There’s a few here- the Blossom wine sounds good to me.”

“Then it sounds good to me too.”

Hera let her gaze linger on the warm smile he gave her for a few seconds longer, before finally submitting their order through the datapad and setting it aside. She looked across the Naboo landscape, and then up at the stars. They sparkled above her, and Hera smiled, but her gaze drifted back down to Kanan, who was absentmindedly drumming his fingers on the table. It hurt her heart that he couldn’t see what she saw- that they couldn’t share these visuals together.

She reached across the table to take his hand in hers, gently squeezing it

“I love you, Kanan,” Hera said. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so glad that  _ we’re _ here- that we made it this far.”

Kanan smiled. “I love you too. I- I think I’m the luckiest man in the galaxy. I get to call you my wife.”

Hera chuckled, tracing her thumb in a circle over the back of his hand. “And I get to call you my husband.”

Hera wasn’t sure how long they sat there, hand-in-hand listening to Naboo crickets and birds flutter through the night, but eventually there was a knock at their door from across the hotel room. Hera stuck her head into the door of the balcony.

“You can come in,” she said.

A moment later, a well-dressed waiter came in through the door, pushing a cart loaded with food that Hera was able to smell as soon as she came through the door, making her mouth water. He smiled at both of them as he reached the balcony.

“Roast nuna?”

Hera motioned towards Kanan, and the waiter sat the plate down in front of him, and then Hera’s shaak pot roast in front of her. He put the plate of five-blossom bread in between them, and then the bottle of dealcoholized wine with two glasses next to that.

“Have a good night, Syndullas,” the waiter said, bowing his head and rolling the cart away, out of their room. Hera heard the door slide shut once he left.

“Syndullas,” Kanan said quietly, a wistful smile on his face. Hera laughed and gently kicked his shin with her foot.

“Eat up, love,” she said. “Because if I finish first, I’m going for yours next.”

Kanan snorted, and started cutting at his roast nuna while Hera dived into her shaak. She was even hungrier than she thought- and she already thought that she was  _ very _ hungry. She was about halfway through her shaak when Kanan tapped her leg with his foot.

“Would you mind opening the wine, hon?”

Hera swallowed a bite of the vegetable on the side of her dish, nodding quickly. “Of course.”

She reached for the wine bottle, twisting the cork from the top and pouring a glass of the light pink, slightly fizzy liquid for Kanan, and one for herself.

“Are you ready?” Hera asked, passing Kanan’s glass to him.

“Yeah,” he said.

Hera bumped her glass to his with a smile, and took a sip. Naboo’s Blossom wine was delicious- Hera had never had a wine quite like it. It was more sweet than anything else, and was missing the bitterness that many of the wines she’d had before had- but she wasn’t sure if that was the flavor of this wine or just the lack of alcohol. It was definitely airy and light, and just a little bit fizzy, tingling on her tongue. Hera licked her lips and set her glass down, cautiously watching Kanan’s face as he sipped his.

“Do you like it?” Hera asked.

Kanan nodded. “Yeah, it’s good. Doesn’t taste like the wine I’ve had, though.”

Hera nodded. “Well, I think you and I have only really had cheap wines before.”

He chuckled. “That’s true.”

Hera sipped her wine once more before setting the glass down and going back into her food, and Kanan did the same just a moment later. She found herself pausing mid-bite at one point, watching the way that the moonlight shone on his face, the way the few loose strands of his hair waved in the wind, and the satisfied smile he had eating his nuna. 

Hera was in  _ deep _ , that was for sure- but this was their honeymoon, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kanan’s arm was linked with Hera’s as they walked over the smoothly-paved streets of Theed. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his face, only occasionally interrupted when they would pass under the shadow of a building or tree. He could feel the presence of plenty of people around them- they had originally planned on going to the lake for a picnic, but Hera saw a market set up so they took a detour to look through.

“Find anything you like yet?” Kanan asked.

“Not really,” Hera answered. “I mean- it’s all beautiful, but nothing I’d want to buy. Is there anything you want me to look for for you?”

“No, can’t think of anything,” Kanan answered. “But if you see something for me, let me know.”

“Mmhmm,” Hera said. They walked through the market a bit more while Hera browsed. “I think we should just head to the lake now, dear.”

Kanan shifted the blanket he had under his other arm.

“Sounds good to me.”

He heard the a small holoprojector turn on, and he assumed Hera was looking at a map.

“The one you wanted to go to is a short walk away,” she said. “This way.”

She pulled him with their linked arms, taking them around a corner. Kanan was happy to follow her, and to get away from the market stalls so they could have some relatively more private time. As they walked further down the street that led to the lake, Kanan could feel the crunch of more and more grains of sand under his shoes. Eventually, Hera stopped, unlinking their arms and opting to carefully take his hand instead.

“Wooden stairs, love,” she said. “Be careful, there’s a lot of sand on them.”

Hera guided him down the stairs, and Kanan went slowly to avoid slipping on the sand. After only a couple of steps, he hit just pure sand.

“I see a good spot over there in the sun,” Hera said. “But there’s also some trees for some shade too, if you’d prefer.”

Kanan shrugged. “Sun sounds good for now. We can always move. Lead the way, General.”

Hera chuckled, and Kanan let her pull him over to a spot. She took the blanket from his arms and laid it out, and then guided him to sit down on it. Kanan kicked his shoes off, setting them carefully to next to the blanket, and dug his toes in the sand, curling them to feel the sensation. He sat down, feet still buried partially in the sand, and laid back across the blanket, the sun warming his face. He let out a happy sigh.

“Aren’t you going to swim, love?” Hera asked. 

“In a moment.”

The blanket shifted a little as Hera sat next to him, gently reaching a hand under his head to pull his hair loose of its ponytail so she could run her fingers through it. He smiled, and felt her bend down to press a soft kiss to his forehead. 

“Well, I think I’ll go get in,” she said quietly, still hovering just above his face. “I’ll tell you how the water is.”

“Mmhmm,” Kanan said, still laying back.

The blanket shifted again as she stood up, and then he heard the rustle of clothing, and then her pants and shirt both dropped beside him. Hera kicked a little bit of sand onto his legs as she ran towards the water, and Kanan laughed quietly, gently shaking his legs to get some of it off. He lazily extended a hand towards the clothes she dropped, feeling around until he reached a hard, cylindrical-shaped something.

_ There it is _ .

He grabbed at the fabric of her pants and pulled it close, searching for the pocket with the commlink that the Queen’s aid had given Hera when they first arrived, along with Hera’s holomap projector. He found it and pulled it from the pocket, running over it with his thumb until he found the switch, turning it on and bringing it closer to his face, still laying on his back.

“Hello?” Kanan asked into the commlink.

“Hello,” the voice of the Queen’s aid sounded through. “Is this General Syndulla’s husband?”

“Yes, it is,” Kanan said. “A couple months ago, I got a call from your senator that there’s a ship museum being worked on here. She said that we could visit it before it opens.”

“Oh, yes,” the aid said. “Would you like to visit?”

“We would,” Kanan said. “Would we able to come over tomorrow morning? We leave that evening.”

“Absolutely!”

The aid gave Kanan the address, which he added to their holomap. Kanan thanked him, and after saying goodbye tucked the commlink and projector back into Hera’s pocket. Kanan sat up, and just listened to the splashes of water as people swam in the lake, as well as the slightly distant bustle of the market, and the birds that flew overhead of the lake. He tugged his shirt off, and then stood up so he could take his pants off as well, tossing them with Hera’s clothes and leaving him only in his swim trunks. He slowly padded his way across the sand, and he heard someone running through come up to him. 

“Hey,” Hera said, slowing as she reached him and gently taking hold of his arm. “The water is perfect, you’re gonna love it.”

Her arm was dripping water, and her wet hands were cool where they grabbed him. Together, they walked into the lake, water rising up to Kanan until he was standing about waist deep.

“Go under,” Hera teased, playfully splashing him. “Get your hair wet.”

“You first.”

“Already did. Just don’t have hair.”

Kanan laughed, and then took a deep breath before he quickly lowered himself, going down into the water for just a moment before coming up with his head tilted back. His wet hair stuck to the back of his neck, and he could feel water dripping from his beard onto his chest. He could hear Hera laughing, and she gently came forward to push at him. He wrapped his arms around her tight, not giving her the chance to squirm away. She continued to laugh with him, the soft material of her bathing suit rubbing against him as she pulled her arms free from his grasp, only to throw them over his neck and hug him tight. They rested like that for a few moments.

“I’m having a really good time here,” Hera said.

“Me too.”

“But I miss Jacen.”

Kanan pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Me too. But we’ll get home to him soon enough. Let’s just enjoy ourselves for now.”

Hera nodded against his chest. “And then we start the rest of our lives together.”

She loosened the hug just enough to kiss him, and Kanan kissed her back, feeling some droplets of water run from his forehead down both of their faces. She pulled back from him entirely, and Kanan smiled at her, but was suddenly caught off guard by a splash, and she started laughing again.

“Not fair!” Kanan sputtered, still wearing a grin. He started splashing towards where he heard her laughter, which only increased it, especially when she would splash him back. After chasing each other and swimming in the lake for a while, they came back to shore, and Hera walked Kanan back to the beach, still laughing a little bit to herself. Kanan flopped down onto the blanket, and Hera followed, sidling up to him. He could feel the water running off of both of them (and especially what was coming from his hair) soaking the blanket below him, but Kanan found it hard to care.

“I love you,” he said. Hera let out an appreciative hum in response.

“I love you too.”

The sun was warming them both, working to dry them off, and Kanan happily pulled Hera even closer to him. 

Hera turned over in the hotel bed, yawning and stretching. She still felt a little sore- she and Kanan had fallen asleep under the sun by the lake the day previous, so her skin was tender. She slowly blinked as she woke up for their last day on Naboo. Sunbeams came in through the window right into her face, and she sat up, rubbing at her eyes. Kanan was sitting at the end of the bed, already dressed. Hera tilted her head.

“You’re up already?”

“Mmhmm,” Kanan said. “I just packed up my bag, so we wouldn’t have to do it later.”

“Oh,” Hera said. She pushed the sheets aside and crawled over to him, draping her arms over his shoulders and resting on him. “I’m sorry, love. You should’ve woke me up, I could’ve helped.”

Kanan shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I have a surprise for you, somewhere I want to go today. It’s… the whole reason I wanted to come to Naboo.”

Hera leaned back. “Really?

“Yeah,” Kanan said, a coy little smile on his face. “You’re going to love it.”

Hera smiled and nodded. “Alright. Let me get ready then. Do I have to dress up?”

She started to climb out of bed and found her bag, digging through it for clothes.

“No,” Kanan answered. “Just wear whatever you want. Something comfortable.”

“Mmm,” Hera said, sliding her lekku through a shirt before pulling it over her head. “Where are we going?”

“I said it was a surprise.”

Hera laughed as she jumped into her pants before heading for the refresher. “Not even a hint?”

“Just get ready.”

Hera snorted before brushing her teeth and then washing her face. She patted her face dry with one of the soft hotel towels, before stepping out. Kanan was waiting for her by the door, leaning against the wall and smiling.

“Ready?”

“Yes,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He opened the door for her, and they walked through towards the lift.

Hera was happy to hold his hand as they exited the hotel, and Kanan pulled up the holomap, asking for an address from it. He handed the projector to Hera once the directions started.

“Could you make sure we take the right way?” Kanan asked.

“Of course.”

Hera guided them through the streets, taking only a couple of turns through the streets of Naboo. It was still relatively early in the morning- the sun was still rising over Theed, and there were very few people walking through the streets with them. They finally arrived to their destination- an under-construction building covered in white tarps. Hera frowned.

“Love- are you sure this is the right place?”

“What do you mean?” Kanan asked.

“It looks like they’re still working on it.”

“No, I know. This is right. Come on.”

Kanan approached a guard standing outside the temporary construction gate, and Hera followed him, still confused.

“Hey,” Kanan said to the guard. “We’re the Syndullas. I talked to an aid of the Queen yesterday, he said we could come by.”

The guard nodded. “Yes, I was notified,” he said, opening the gate for them. “You’re welcome to walk around inside. We don’t have tour guides yet- you’ll have to come back when we’re open for that.”

“That’s alright,” Kanan said, pulling Hera through the gate and up the stairs. “Thank you!”

“Love, what’s going on?”

They got to the top, and Kanan pushed through some sheets, pulling Hera through with him.

“Kanan-” Hera said again, before cutting herself off with a loud gasp. Inside the building, various ships- many being old from the Clone War, hung from the ceiling, and some sat around the large, open space.

“Kanan,” she repeated slowly. “What- what?”

She looked at him, and he had probably the biggest grin she’d ever seen on him.

“A couple of months ago, you got a call that this museum is opening soon, but I took it- by the way, they want you to be at the opening ceremony soon. Anyway, they said we could come visit before it opened to walk through privately. We’ve got the whole museum to ourselves.”

Hera’s mouth was still open as she took in what was around her. She was honestly just speechless.

“I thought it’d be a nice surprise for you, since I know you love this kind of stuff,” he said. “Do you- I mean, are you happy?”

She looked back at Kanan- he looked a little nervous now. Hera just threw her arms over his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. She felt him smile into it as he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing back. When Hera finally pulled away, she rested her forehead against his.

“I love you,” she said.

Kanan chuckled. “I love you too,” he said. He stepped back from her, but slid one of his hands down her arm until it reached her hand, which he promptly took hold of.

“Now come on,” he continued. “You heard him, there’s no tour guide, so you’ve got to tell me about all of these ships.”

Hera laughed, but had already started pulling him down the hallway marked “Clone War Era.”

Hera watched Kanan’s face as she went from ship to ship, telling him all what she knew about the different ships they had- and there were a lot. Gunships, starfighters, they even had an old vulture droid, which the Separatists had used for space and air battles over ships with pilots (which Hera always thought was foolish- she’d met some remarkable droids, but they can’t fly like a good pilot can). Kanan listened intently as she talked, and with some of the Republic ships, he’d tell her what he remembered about them from his time as a padawan, much to Hera’s delight.

Hera saw a few Y-Wings on display, suspended from the ceiling by thick cables and made to look like they were in a formation. She smiled looking at them, before they moved on to see another yellow ship- a beautiful, sleek old Naboo fighter, reflecting the lights above it brilliantly.

“I’ve never seen one of these in person,” she said.

“One of what?”

“Naboo fighters,” Hera said. “N-1, the classic model. They’re gorgeous, and I’ve heard they’re brilliantly fast. How amazing do you think it must be to fly one of these?”

“I’m sure you’d be able to do great things in it.”

“I can do great things in any ship,” Hera remarked, and Kanan chuckled. They left the Clone War section of the museum, but Hera was hesitant to enter the hallway dedicated to the more recent war- she didn’t see how seeing lines of TIE Fighters and Imperial shuttles would do anything but upset her, as much as she may have liked to see the ships she flew with lined up to admire.

“Something wrong?” Kanan asked. Hera shook her head.

“Oh- no, just… not sure I want to go see the Imperial ships.”

Kanan put a hand on her shoulder. “I understand. Is there any more?”

“I don’t think so, and it’s getting late, we might want to start packing up and everything. But Kanan- thank you.”

He smiled, and took both of her hands. “I’m just glad you had a good time.”

Hera squeezed his hands. “I had an  _ amazing _ time, love. This… was incredible.”

He kissed her, and Hera realized that she had to come up with a surprise to make sure he felt just as loved as she did in that moment. And she already had something in mind… she’d just have to ask her dad if he minded them coming to pick Jacen up a little late.

Kanan waited in the ship as Hera talked to the Queen’s aid for a last time, giving him back the commlink he’d loaned and making arrangements on coming back for the ship museum’s opening ceremony. He was relieved to hear her finally come up the ramp of the  _ Phantom II _ so they could pick Jacen up and go home. As much as he’d loved their time together on Naboo, he was very ready to return to the domesticity he’d loved and grown accustomed to since returning. He heard the pilot’s chair creak just a little bit as she sat down, and started going through the launch procedures.

“Ready to go, love?” Hera asked.

“Mmhmm. I had a really good time with you, these past few days,” Kanan said. “But I’m ready to go home.”

Hera chuckled. “Me too. But… we’ll be making one stop before picking Jacen up.”

“We will?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

Hera chuckled. “You’re not the only one that can pull a romantic surprise.”

Kanan raised his eyebrows, but leaned back in his seat as Hera took off, flying up to break the atmosphere of Naboo.

“Alright, Syndulla, I see how it is.”

Hera laughed, reaching over to playfully poke at his ribs before getting back to flying, eventually putting them into hyperspace. It wasn’t long, though, until Hera pulled them out of hyperspace.

“Is this a place I’d recognize if I was able to see?” Kanan asked.

“Probably,” Hera answered.

“Then you have to tell me,” he said. “Only fair.”

Hera paused for a little bit, but finally spoke up.

“We’re going to one of Rion’s moons.”

Kanan’s mouth fell open and he sat quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say to her.

“Just for a little bit,” Hera said. “To stop by that cafe again. Maybe take a little walk.”

“Hera… I love you.”

Hera chuckled. “I love you too. I wanted… I mean, that museum today was  _ incredible _ . I wanted to do something nice for you too.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know that. But I wanted to. I want you to remember that I care about you, and that I want you to feel happy and, well, loved. The way you make me feel. I haven’t always done a good job of that, but I want to be better now.”

Kanan smiled, his face growing warm from the affection.

He was sure that he was the luckiest man in the galaxy. No question about it. Because there was no one else who got to be with Hera like he did.

Hera sipped the last of her spiran caf that she and Kanan had picked up from the moons of Rion. It was nice to visit- they hadn’t been there in  _ years _ , yet it was relatively unchanged, and thankfully enough the cafe that they’d gone to for their first date was still open. Hera’s caf had energized her, but Kanan had gotten a decaffeinated version, and was sleeping soundly in the back of the ship while she flew them. Hera was happy with that- they’d had enough fun on their honeymoon to wipe them both out, and she was excited to be able to just lay around the house for a little while after they picked Jacen up, enjoying being married for a while. 

The ship lurched a little when she dropped them out of hyperspace, and she started going down to Ryloth. Kanan was woken up by the familiar sounds of atmosphere reentry once she reached that point, and he came to sit next to her, still a little groggy.

“Nice nap?” Hera asked, only peeling her eyes away from the viewport to look at the navicomputer to see how far they were from her father’s home.

“Yeah,” Kanan said. “I didn’t realize I missed that place so much.”

“It was nice to go back,” Hera agreed.

She could see her father’s home below them, and began to circle so she could slowly touch ground. Once she landed the ship, she opened the back ramp to go and approach the front door of her father’s house, knocking on the door, with Kanan by her side. The door opened, but she hardly had time to register before she felt Jacen collide with her legs for a hug. Hera laughed, and bent down to hug him tight, eagerly burying her face in his hair.

“Oh, Jacen,” she said. “I missed you so much!”

“Missed you too,” Jacen said, pressing a wet kiss to her cheek. Hera smiled and squeezed him tighter. She felt Kanan come down too, wrapping his arms around both of them, much to the delight of a giggly Jacen. They all hugged right, until Jacen started to wriggle from their grasp.

“I have a present!” Jacen said, pulling away from them. He ran inside her father’s home, and Hera simply raised her eyebrows, but followed him with Kanan trailing close behind. Jacen came back, this time with Cham and Chopper both in tow, holding a wide but not tall gift box that Hera could only assume was wrapped by Jacen himself.

“Jacen, sweetheart,” Hera said, looking more at her father. “You didn’t have to get us anything.”

He pushed the box to her, and Hera took it, nudging Kanan with it. He took it from her, holding it for her while she scratched at the wrapping paper, finally finding a corner where she pulled at the paper, tearing it to reveal a framed drawing- clearly drawn by Jacen. Hera smiled as she looked over it, and she took it from Kanan’s hands.

“Love, it’s a drawing of us, Jacen and Chopper,” she said.

Kanan smiled.

“Jacen, that’s sweet of you,” Kanan said.

“We’ll have to hang this up when we get home,” Hera said. “Which- we should get going. Did you have fun with grandpa?”

Jacen nodded earnestly.

“That’s good,” Hera said. “Go say bye, okay?”

Chopper rolled up to her, and Hera happily patted his dome, before handing the drawing to Kanan. She went over to her father, hugging him.

“Thank you so much, dad,” she said quietly.

“Anytime,” he said, hugging her back. “I’m always happy to see my grandson, you know that.”

He pulled back from her, smiling, and Hera looked over to see Jacen guiding Kanan’s finger over his drawing, describing it all to him, while Chopper let them lean the frame up against him. She smiled watching them.

“You’ve made a beautiful family, little one,” her father said. “I’m proud of you.”

Hera looked back at him, bright eyes twinkling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably my longest chapter yet, but one I've really been looking forward to writing! I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Don't worry, this series is far from over. The Syndullas still have plenty of happy times to look forward to as long as I have something to say about it!


	19. Kanan's Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan joins Ahsoka and Ezra on a trip to Luke's Jedi Temple.

Kanan just sat on the ship, Ezra sitting across from him. He’d only gotten to enjoy about a month of married life with Hera before Ahsoka and Ezra invited him to visit Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi temple. Kanan was reluctant, but Hera had pushed him into going. He’d hardly be gone two days, anyway, and most of that was just the travel time.

“Entering the atmosphere,” Ahsoka called back from the pilot’s chair.

Kanan nodded.

“Hey,” Ezra said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Kanan answered. “I’m fine.”

He was sure that Ezra was able to sense that he was, in fact, very much not fine, but Ezra didn’t push any further.

Kanan wasn’t sure  _ why _ he was so nervous about visiting the new temple. He’d talked to Luke, who was very understanding of the fact that he didn’t want to be a teacher, and he hadn’t asked Kanan to bring Jacen to start to train him. And it’s not like Luke passed any judgement on him straying from many of the Jedi rules- hell, Luke RSVP’d to the wedding before having to pull out because he got busy.

Ahsoka landed the ship, and Ezra offered his hand to pull Kanan to his feet, guiding him down the ramp.

“Hello,” Luke Skywalker’s voice said at the bottom of the ramp. “Thank you so much for coming!”

“It’s great to see you again… Skywalker,” Ahsoka said.

Kanan couldn’t help but notice the pain in her voice as she said his name. Once Kanan reached the bottom of the ramp, he felt Luke shaking his hand.

“Nice to see you again,” Luke said. Kanan smiled at him.

“Nice to… well, I’m happy to be here too.”

Luke chuckled, and then evidently moved on to Ezra.

“Ezra Bridger,” Luke said. “I don’t think we’ve met in person before.”

“No, we haven’t,” Ezra said. “It’s nice to meet you, Luke.”

“I have to say the same,” Luke said. “Well, I guess you all want a tour first.”

“Sounds fun,” Ezra said.

Luke led them on a tour through his new temple. It was much more open than where Kanan grew up, but the more natural setting was a lot more peaceful than Coruscant. He was sure that in some ways, the temple here would probably be a greater benefit to Luke’s students than the old temple was to Kanan’s generation, and those before him.

Luke showed them the dormitories, the training grounds, the meditation area, the library tent, walking through all of it and explaining how he built it, who helped him, and some of the stories behind certain parts of the temple. Kanan was satisfied to just follow along with him.

“Definitely different from the temple Kanan and I grew up in,” Ahsoka joked. Kanan chuckled.

“I have to agree with you on that one.”

“I’m sure it is,” Luke said. “But hopefully, still good enough for my students.”

“Of course, Luke,” Ahsoka said. “You’re doing very well here. I can’t say I’m jealous of this task you’ve taken on.”

“There’s a long road ahead of you,” Kanan agreed. “But this is very honorable.”

There was a long pause before Luke spoke again.

“Thank you both,” he said. “That’s… that’s good to hear. Should we get lunch?”

He led them to a field in the grass where some of his students were already eating lunch, and some were playing and running around. It occurred to Kanan that some of Luke’s students weren’t much that much older than Jacen was- Jacen would be turning six in two weeks, while some of his students seemed to be about ten years old.

The thought scared Kanan, though he tried not to show it- which felt like a fruitless endeavor considering the company he was with, but if any of them noticed, they didn’t say anything.

Ezra and Luke talked a lot during lunch, while Ahsoka seemed much more enamored with Luke’s droid- R2-D2, talking to him as if he was an old friend of hers. Kanan sat quietly and ate his lunch, reveling in being in a place so strong in the Force once again.

* * *

“It’ll be a long flight back to Yavin IV,” Ahsoka said. “And an even longer flight to drop you off, Ezra.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take over for part of it?” Ezra asked.

“Of course not,” Ahsoka said. “Just sit down, and get ready for a long flight.”

Ezra sat in the back next to Kanan, and Kanan nudged him.

“Ezra,” he said.

“Yes?”

“May I ask something of you?”

“Anything.”

“When Jacen gets older,” Kanan said. “Should he want to… train as a Jedi, I want you to train him.”

Ezra was quiet for what certainly felt like a long time.

“Master, are you sure?”

“I’m very sure, Ezra,” Kanan said. “There’s no one else I’d like to train him. Only if you agree to, of course.”

Ezra paused again, sitting quietly and thinking over Kanan’s proposition.

“I will,” Ezra said. “If that’s what he wants, too.”

Kanan nodded, and then reached around with an arm to pull Ezra close. They sat like that for a little while, before Kanan’s holocomm rang. He pulled it from his pocket, and answered.

“Hey,” Hera’s voice said through the speaker, making Kanan smile. “You guys should be heading home now, right?”

“Right,” Kanan said. “We just jumped into hyperspace a few minutes ago.”

“Good,” Hera said. “Hi Ezra.”

“Hi Hera!”

Kanan chuckled. “Do you need anything?”

“No,” Hera said. “Just wanted to ask how your trip went.”

“It went well,” Kanan said. “Luke’s school is nice. Where’s Jacen?”

“Just went to bed,” Hera said. “Sorry you missed him, but it’s late here. Oh- Sabine sent us a wedding present, it just got here today.”

“I thought you guys said no presents,” Ezra said.

“We did,” Kanan remarked. “But you know Sabine doesn’t listen.”

Hera laughed. “Well, it’s beautiful. She sent us a mosaic of us and Jacen. It… it looks just like the one I used to have of my parents and I. I’ll trace it with you when you get home.”

Kanan smiled. “I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this may seem like overly convenient timing, but I swear I already had this chapter planned out- my schedule just happened to work out that it posted today.


	20. Jacen's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacen turns six, but Hera gets caught up in a New Republic aid mission and runs late for the party.

“Where’s Hera?” Zeb asked.

Kanan shrugged. “She had to do a mission for work. She said she'd be back today, probably just running a little late.”

The oven beeped, and Kanan could hear Zeb pulling the cake from the oven. The doorbell rang.

“I’ll decorate this,” Zeb said. “You see if that’s Ezra back with the drinks.”

Kanan nodded and went to the door, opening it. He heard Sabine chirp a greeting as she pushed past him, arms obviously full of presents.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as Kanan followed her into the living room. “I wanted to pick up a few extra things for him on the way. Are Cham and Rex still out with him?”

“Yeah,” Kanan said. “They took Chopper, too. Cham… wasn’t thrilled, but Jacen wanted it.”

“It is his birthday,” Sabine pointed out. He could hear her adding her own presents to what Kanan was sure was an oversized pile. Once she placed the last one down, Kanan felt her turn and quickly hug him. Kanan chuckled and hugged her back.

“I haven’t seen you since the wedding!” Sabine said. “How was Naboo?”

“Good. I didn’t get a chance to thank you for your present-”

“Yeah, yeah. Did you visit the Parnelli?”

Kanan frowned. “The what?”

“The big art museum. Did you guys go? You were in Theed, right?”

“Oh, no- I mean, we were in Theed,” Kanans said. “But we didn’t go to any art museums.”

Sabine was silent for a moment, and he could only imagine the reaction on her face.

“You were on Naboo for days and didn’t go to any art museums?

“They didn’t try any fish, either,” Zeb called from the kitchen. Kanan rolled his eyes.

“We had a nice time,” he said, loudly to make sure Zeb could hear him. “You two can go and see all the art and eat all the fish you want any time.”

They both laughed, and Sabine playfully punched his arm. 

“We’re teasing,” she said. “Where’s Hera?”

Kanan tensed.

“She had to do a New Republic mission. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”

The doorbell rang again just as he was finishing his sentence.

“Oh, okay,” Sabine said. “I’ll get that.”

She rushed towards the door, and he heard her greeting Ezra and offering to help him carry some of the drink jugs to the kitchen.

“I saw them on the other side of the street coming back,” Ezra said. “They’ll be here in just a few minutes.”

“Cake’s almost done,” Zeb called.

“Looks good,” Ezra said from the kitchen. Kanan heard Ezra walk towards him in the living room, and they hugged.

“Thanks for getting those for us, kid,” Kanan said.

“No problem. Where’s Hera?”

Kanan stiffened as he pulled away from the hug. “Mission. She’ll be home soon.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kanan helped Ezra and Sabine finish up, while Zeb finished frosting the cake. In just another minute, there was another knock at the door, and Kanan rushed to go greet Cham, Jacen and Chopper. He opened the door and immediately felt Jacen at his legs. Kanan laughed and scooped him up, holding him close.

“Happy birthday, Jacen!”

Jacen giggled, and nuzzled against his father. Kanan just squeezed him tighter, and he heard Zeb, Sabine and Ezra all come out of the kitchen, wishing happy birthday to Jacen.

“Where’s Mommy?” Jacen asked.

Kanan hesitated, swallowing hard.

“She’s on a mission,” Kanan said. “But she’ll be home soon, I promise.”

“Okay.”

Kanan passed Jacen along to Zeb, who did something to make Jacen shriek with laughter as they all walked towards the living room, where Jacen would be able to open the giant pile of presents.

They all sat down for a while. Kanan was happy to tell Cham and Rex about the things he and Hera had seen on Naboo on their honeymoon, while he recounted what he and Jacen got up to during that time. Sabine and Zeb were doing some catching up, and Kanan could hear Ezra sitting on the floor with Jacen, playing some games with him that made him giggle, and apparently dragging Zeb and Sabine into it every so often. It didn’t take much more than an hour for Jacen to announce he was hungry, so Ezra helped Zeb serve the dinner that they’d made.

Kanan couldn’t help but be disappointed that Hera was missing dinner, and he was even more disappointed when they cut open the cake. Kanan made sure plenty was left for Hera when she came home, cutting a slice for her and covering it. They came back to the living room after dinner, sitting around the table with all of the presents piled on it to talk some more.

“Can I open them?” Jacen asked, for probably the third time.

“Not yet,” Kanan answered quickly. “We should wait for Mommy to come home, okay?”

There was a tense silence, and Kanan was sure that everyone was staring at him.

“Kanan,” Sabine said softly. “It’s been hours. I don’t think she’s gonna make it.”

“She wouldn’t want us to hold everything up for her,” Ezra said.

Kanan hesitated, but finally nodded. “Alright. Jacen, pick one to open.”

He heard a rustle as Jacen grabbed one from the top and opened it. He could hear Sabine helping him read the label- it was from Cham.

“What is it? Kanan asked.

“Just some books,” Cham said. “Since he’ll be starting school pretty soon, right Jacen?”

“Yeah!”

Cham chuckled. “Those were some of your Mommy’s favorites when she was your age.”

Kanan smiled. “What do we say, Jacen?”

“Thank you!”

Kanan smiled, and listened to Jacen open more and more presents. He got a small art kit from Sabine, some plushies from Zeb, some toy ships from Ezra, a toy blaster from Rex, and some sweaters, again from Cham. The doorbell rang just as he was finished opening the sweaters, and Kanan raced to the front door, telling Jacen to hold off opening any more gifts. He opened the door.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Hera said quickly, a little breathless. “We had a fuel issue on the way home, had to stop and get the ship fixed. And our comms were out, so I couldn’t call, and- oh, love, I’m so sorry. Is everyone still here?”

Kanan nodded. “Yes, they’re in the living room. He’s still opening gifts.”

“Oh, good, good. Did he open ours yet?”

“No.”

“That’s good- I’m sorry, dear, I hope you weren’t waiting for me.”

“It’s okay,” Kanan said. Hera took his hand and pulled him to the living room quickly, and Kanan heard Jacen shriek.

“Mommy!”

“Hey!”

Hera pulled her hand away from his, presumably to hug Jacen tight.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she said, muffled against Jacen. “I never wanted to miss your birthday, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jacen said, so quiet Kanan almost couldn’t hear him.

“Let’s finish opening your presents,” Hera said. He heard her go and sit down on the floor with Jacen, greeting her father and the rest of their crew as she did. Kanan went and sat back down on the couch where he was earlier. He listened to Hera help Jacen with the gift that they had picked out for him- it was much bigger and heavier than the rest, and he heard Jacen tear through the wrapping paper that covered the box. Kanan couldn’t help but smile when he heard Jacen gasp loudly. He heard Hera chuckle.

“Do you like it?”

Jacen was quiet for a minute, but then answered with a loud, enthusiastic “YES!”

Everyone laughed, and Kanan smiled.

He and Hera had picked out a mini-speeder to give him. It was expensive, but it could fly at low heights and speeds, and was perfect for his age.

“Now Jacen,” Kanan said. “You can’t ride that in the house, are we clear?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Jacen said. “Can we try it out later?”

“Of course,” Kanan said. “I bet you could ride it around the park tomorrow- that would be fun!”

Jacen giggled, and thanked both of his parents, and Kanan couldn’t help but glow with pride from how happy he could feel that Jacen was.

* * *

Hera turned over in bed again, studying Kanan’s face.

“I’m sorry again, love. I swear I didn’t want to miss it- and I wish I could’ve helped set up. But it sounds like you all had a good day, anyway, right?”

“Right,” Kanan said. “It’s okay.”

Hera propped herself up on an elbow. “It’s clearly not. You’re mad at me.”

“I’m not-” Kanan sat up, leaning against the headboard. “I’m not mad at you, Hera. It wasn’t your fault, I can’t get mad at you for that.”

Hera traced her fingers down his arm delicately. “Well, you’re clearly upset. And I think we should talk about it.”

Kanan sighed. “I just… and again, it’s not your fault. But I thought things would be different now, you know? We lost so much time because we had the war in the way, always- always pulling you away from us, because that was your priority, not us. And now… it just feels like more of the same.”

“I know, dear, but it was one time. I’m not planning on making a habit of it.”

“Of course, but… can you really promise it won’t happen again?”

Hera couldn’t answer, and Kanan knew that.

“I know that what you do is important to you,” Kanan continued. “And I know that our family is also important to you, and I know it’s hard to balance. I just think that you aren’t getting to enjoy peace the way you deserve to. Have you ever… thought about other things you could do?”

Hera paused.

“Teaching,” she said quietly. “I loved teaching Ezra to fly when he was younger. I’ve thought, that… maybe that would be something I could do. Give something to the next generation of pilots.”

“That sounds nice,” Kanan said, the moonlight through their window barely illuminating his smile. “I just want you to be happy, Hera. And I know that missing things like this aren’t going to help with that. I think you’d be a really good teacher- you should look into that, if you want to.”

Hera smiled and kissed his cheek, before coaxing him to lay down with her, kissing his cheek.

“Kanan,” she said quietly, laying her head on his chest.

“Hmm?”

“You- our family- that’s my priority now. Above all else. And I’m going to show you that.”

Kanan lazily traced his hand down her back.

“I know you will.”


	21. Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera gets an offer for a new job.

Hera sat down on the couch next to Kanan. She was looking forward to a quiet evening at home with him, since the Bey-Damerons were having Jacen over for a sleepover with Poe since they hadn’t been able to make his birthday party. He reached an arm back and put it around her shoulders, and Hera leaned against his shoulder.

“I thought we could get something delivered for dinner tonight,” she said. “So we could just relax. Maybe watch a holo.”

“That sounds nice to me,” Kanan said, rubbing circles on her arm with his thumb. “You want to order? Pick whatever place you want, you know I don’t care.”

Hera nodded, lifting her head up from his shoulder.

“Sure.”

She tapped on the buttons of the holotable in front of the couch, turning it on. She frowned when she saw a message beeping for them.

“Someone must have called when we were dropping Jacen off,” she said.

“Well, play it.”

Hera started the recording, and a hologram of a Duros man sharply dressed in a New Republic tailored suit formed in front of them.

“General Syndulla,” he said. “I am a representative for the new Pilots Initiative program started by the New Republic. The program aims to create opportunities for people of all backgrounds to receive extensive flight training, should they choose to. We are currently in the process of building a flight academy on Yavin IV- a planet we understand you reside on. We’re looking for teachers to work in our academy, and we think you’d be a good fit. We know you’re an excellent pilot, and if you want to, we’re offering an educator course you can do from home to get your certification.”

Hera’s jaw dropped a little.

“Please, get back to us when you can if you’re interested. Thank you,” the hologram finished, and then faded away. Hera looked to Kanan, who had a big grin on his face.

“This is perfect!” Kanan said. “You just said you wanted to teach, right? And they’re building a school right here.”

Hera smiled, her heart warm from his enthusiasm.

“You think I should do the program?”

“Definitely!” Kanan said. “If- if that’s what you want.”

Hera looked back at the holotable, which now just displayed the menu. She considered it.

She did love the work she did with the New Republic, truly. But a flight academy on Yavin IV- even beyond just getting to teach, she’d always be on the planet at work if Kanan and Jacen needed her, she wouldn’t have to leave them for a week or more at a time, the income would be more consistent- it sounded great. Plus, if she had to resign from the Navy, she could join the Civilian Defense Force with Shara. Hera looked back to her husband, who waited patiently for her response.

“I think I do.”

Kanan kissed her quickly, making Hera chuckle against his lips in surprise as she threw her arms over his shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a real short chapter for today. I hope you're enjoying this story!


	22. Missing Toy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacen loses a toy, and Kanan has to help him while Hera and Chopper are away.

Kanan was still hardly awake, making himself some caf in the kitchen when he heard a pitter-patter of feet across the tile, and then felt a tug on his loose pajama pants. He yawned and chuckled a little bit. He was on sole-parent duty for two days, since Hera was attending the ship museum opening on Naboo- not that he really minded.

“Good morning. Didn’t even know you were up yet, kid.”

Jacen just sniffled, and Kanan frowned in concern. He set his mug down on the counter and knelt down so he was more level to Jacen.

“Hey, buddy,” Kanan said. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find my plushie,” Jacen said, his voice wavering.

“Oh, oh, okay,” Kanan said, nodding and gently squeezing Jacen’s arm. “That’s okay, we’ll find it. Which one was it?”

“The blue loth-cat.”

Kanan wracked his brain for a moment- it’s not like he ever saw any of Jacen’s plushies- but he remembered Jacen telling them about the blue loth-cat that Poe had just given him as a birthday present last week. Not that knowing the appearance of it would help him much in finding it. Kanan nodded again, and leaned forward to press a kiss to Jacen’s forehead.

“Okay, we’ll find it. When do you remember playing with it last?”

“Last night,” Jacen said.

“Where?”

“In the living room.”

“Okay…” Kanan said. “We can start there.”

He walked Jacen to the living room, leaving his caf to get cold. Kanan was internally cursing himself for letting Hera take Chopper with her- she’d offered to let him stay to help, but Kanan figured they wouldn’t need it. But unfortunately, Kanan was afraid he’d be little help to Jacen in finding a plushie, and he hated the fact that he could end up disappointing his son.

Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try.

“Why don’t you look under the holotable?” Kanan asked gently. “See if it’s under there.”

Jacen agreed, and Kanan could hear the quiet sounds of him kneeling down on the floor to take a look. Kanan took to just walking against the walls of the room, using his feet to feel for anything he might step on, especially in the corners, and gently feeling for the shelves they had on the wall, examining each item that rested on them for the soft appearance of a plushie. Kanan got to the couch and knelt down, reaching underneath and sweeping his arm to grab at anything that might be a toy loth-cat- though Kanan was sure all he was doing was gathering dust on his sleeve.

“Not under here,” Kanan said. “Any luck?”

“No…” Jacen said. He started to cry again, and Kanan crawled over towards him, pulling Jacen into a hug.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, buddy, we’ll find it. I promise, Jacen. It has to be somewhere- these things don’t just disappear, alright? Do you remember anywhere else you were playing with it?”

Jacen paused for a few moments.

“No.”

He cried again, and Kanan pulled him tight. His heart broke- he hated that he couldn’t be more help.

“It’s okay, kid, we’ll find it. If we don’t find it today, I’m sure Mommy and Chopper can help when they get home.”

Jacen nodded. “Okay.”

Kanan pulled back a little bit, and cupped Jacen’s soft cheek in his hands. He could feel a tear drop on his finger.

“Let’s get some food in you,” Kanan said. “And then we’ll try and look again.”

* * *

“I’ve got no idea where it could be,” Kanan said into the comm as he finished his lunch. “We’ve been tearing apart the house for hours. I feel horrible. He’s so upset, and I’m just… useless.”

“You’re not useless, love,” Hera said. “I’m sure it at least makes him feel better that you’re trying so hard for him.

Kanan sighed. “I’d hope so.”

“Mmhmm. Chop and I can help when we get home if you still haven’t found it yet, alright?”

“Yeah. Any ideas on where else I can try to find it?”

“Hmm… you said you looked in the holotable drawer, right?”

Kanan frowned. “Drawer?”

“Yeah. The drawer under the holotable, where I keep the remotes and earpieces.”

“I said we looked… under the holotable. I didn’t… I never saw the drawer. Obviously.”

Hera chuckled. “Check in the drawer. I told Chopper to tidy up the living room before we left, and if Jacen left something on the floor, he probably threw it in there. Lazy droid.”

Kanan groaned. “Of course he did. I’ll go check. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, dear. I hope you find it for him. I love you.”

“I love you too. You’ll tell me all about your trip when you get back, right?”

“Definitely. And I’ll try to remember any other secret drawers I haven’t shown you yet. See you soon.”

Kanan laughed. “Bye, hon.”

The comm clicked off, and Kanan tucked into his pocket. He put his empty plate in the sink and walked to the living room. He knelt down and felt around the bottom of the holotable- sure enough, there was a handle there. He pulled on it, and a drawer slid open. Kanan reached inside, feeling the hard plastoid of remotes and earpieces, but also a soft plushie.

There it was. Hopefully.

Kanan pulled it out and closed the drawer.

“Jacen,” he called up the stairs. “Is this it?”

He heard small feet bounding down the stairs, and then a shriek of laughter.

“Yes!”

Jacen collided with him, wrapping his arms around him for a tight hug, and Kanan happily hugged him back, happy that he was able to give Jacen back his toy.

“I’m glad, kiddo. Here you go.”

Kanan handed Jacen the plushie.

“Thank you, Daddy!”

Kanan playfully ruffled Jacen’s hair.

“Anytime, kiddo. Just glad I could help you.”


	23. First Day of School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera and Kanan drop Jacen off for his first day of school.

Hera drove the speeder around the corner of the road. She of course had known this day was coming for a long time, and she was very excited, but she had this horrible nervous pit in her stomach. She looked over to see Kanan next to her in the passenger’s seat, and he looked every bit as nervous as she did. She spared a glance in the mirror to look back at Jacen, who was smiling as he stared out the window. Hera refocused on driving, and when she went around another corner, she could see the sprawling building of Andor Elementary, surrounded by some Yavin-native trees.

“Here we are, Jacen,” she said. “Are you excited?”

“Yeah!” Jacen yelled from the backseat. She and Kanan both chuckled. Hera pulled up to the curb, right up against the school. It was a nice building, with neatly kept gardens, and a large playground with plenty of open space for the children to play. Hera was happy that Yavin IV had such a great school, but that didn’t mean her son’s first day in school wasn’t any less nerve-wracking.

She and Kanan both got out of the speeder, and she went around to open the door for Jacen, who happily bounded out, backpack on his back and a lunchbox in his hand.

“Come here,” she said, kneeling down to hug him tight. “Have a good first day, Jacen.”

“I will, Mommy.”

“I know. You’re gonna have a lot of fun, okay? Be good for me. You can tell us all about your day at dinner tonight- and you better.”

Hera playfully tickled his sides as she broke the hug, and Jacen giggled.

“Okay, okay!”

Hera chuckled, and then stepped back so he could hug Kanan. Kanan pressed a kiss to the side of his head, and whispered something that she couldn’t hear- but whatever it was made Jacen hug him even tighter. They broke apart, and Kanan sent Jacen on his way.

“Bye,” Hera and Kanan both called at the same time. Jacen turned around and waved at them before running into the school, joining the mix of other children coming through the doors, being greeted by their teachers. Hera just stood and watched for a few moments, leaning back against the speeder, and Kanan put his arm around her.

“I’m happy for him,” Kanan said. “I never got to just go to a normal school.”

Hera smiled, looking at him. “I only did for a little bit. But this will be good for him. Everyone has said that Organa Elementary is a great school. He’s in good hands.”

Kanan nodded, reaching his hand up to finger his beard.

“Organa Elementary,” he said.

“Mmhmm. Named after Senator Organa- a lot of the buildings here are named after the heroes we lost in the war. Senator Organa deserved it, after all.”

“Yeah,” Kanan said. “He was a good man.”

There was a long pause, and Hera watched as the last of the students started to trickle into the building, and the teachers began to close the doors. Most of the parents dropping their children off had already left.

“Anything named after me?” Kanan asked.

Hera frowned and looked at him. “What?”

“I mean… do I get a park or something?”

He had a dorky smile on his face, and Hera rolled her eyes.

“I’m pretty sure that’s only for the people who died. Now come on, I have to start that program today.”

“I  _ did  _ die,” Kanan protested, and Hera elbowed him before going around the speeder to get back in the driver’s seat. Kanan laughed and climbed back in himself, and they started on the drive home.

“So, you and Jacen are both going back to school today. Are you ready to start your program?” Kanan asked as she drove home.

“I think so,” Hera said. “They told me it’s a lot of work, though.”

“Hey, I’ve known you long enough to know that there’s nothing you can’t handle. And besides, once you’re done, you’ll get to be a teacher- and you’ll do great at that.”

Hera smiled. Kanan’s ceaseless faith in her had always warmed her heart. And nothing came close to the confidence boost that accompanied a Jedi believing in you.


	24. Rare Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of Chopper's parts fails, and Hera has to find a new one- but it's hard for such an old model of droid.

“No,” Hera said. “No, no, no, no!”

Her voice had slowly grown in volume as she took out her frustration, and she could hear Kanan start to come up the stairs after a moment. She slammed her screwdriver down in frustration and leaned forward, her forehead resting on Chopper’s deactivated dome.

“I’m so sorry, Chop,” she whispered, hugging her oldest friend.

“Hera?” Kanan said, knocking on the door frame of Chopper’s room and slowly stepping inside. “Everything okay?”

She looked up at him and sighed. “One of the core nanochips in Chopper’s central processor is fried.”

Chopper hadn’t woken himself up from recharging that morning, so Hera went to check on him after they’d dropped Jacen off at school- and to her horror he couldn’t be reactivated at all. This had been a possibility she’d always known about- Chopper was old when she’d found him as a little girl, and that was decades ago- but it never seemed real.

“Okay,” Kanan said gently. “We’ll have to get a new one. There’s a droid repair shop on the way to Jacen’s school, we can get one on our way to pick him up today.”

Hera shook her head. “You don’t understand. Chopper’s too old. Industrial Automations stopped producing parts for the C-1s before the Clone Wars. And anything not for a C-Series droid won’t fit- and they haven’t made those  _ since _ the Clone Wars. You can’t find C-Series parts anywhere anymore.”

Kanan approached Hera, kneeling down next to her. “Is there anything we can do without a nanochip?

Hera looked in the open back panel of her droid, sighing in defeat. “I could reconfigure his wiring and put a whole new central processor in there, C-Series or not. That’s what I’d normally do with most parts.”

“Then let’s do that.”

“But then, Chopper wouldn’t be… well, Chopper. He’d be a whole different droid if he had a new CP, even if we did a full data transplant.”

“I mean… is that such a problem?”

Hera’s lip quivered, and she couldn’t help but start to cry. She wiped her tears and tried not to let Kanan hear her, but she let out a small sniffle, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her.

“Woah, woah, hey,” he said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You know I love that droid.”

“Right,” she said bitterly, wiping her face with the back of her sleeve as her chin rested on his shoulder.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew Chopper was difficult for most other people, Kanan far from an exception- he was even sometimes a little difficult for her. But he was  _ her _ droid, and he was there for her when no one else was, ever since she was a girl. She couldn’t believe that she’d failed him like this- that he was gone.

Kanan cupped her cheek in his hand. “I’m sorry, hon, really. That was wrong of me. We’ll figure something out, I promise. Let me get you something to eat, and we can try and think of where we might be able to find some old C-Series parts.

Hera nodded, and took his hand as he pulled her to her feet. Hera looked back at Chopper as they left the room, reluctant to leave her friend.

* * *

The plan they formed during lunch was for Hera to go to one of the local junkyards and search for any old C-Series central processors that Hera could pull a chip from. Kanan would ask around at the local droid repair shop. Hera had explained everything to him- a C-1 was preferable, but any C-Series would do. And she wanted to get the whole processor, so she could replace all the parts in it she could (without making him a whole new droid) to keep this from happening again any time soon.

But Kanan knew as well as Hera that there was no way that shop would have anything for a C-Series droid. And he was sure that the junkyard would be no help either- most of the junk there was just leftover droid and ship parts from when the Rebellion had a base here, and he didn’t think there were any other C-Series droids around then. No, Kanan had come up with a plan of his own- one that he knew Hera wouldn’t have approved off if he told her about it. Frankly, Kanan didn’t really approve of it either, but it was the best he could think of.

The holotable comm was ringing, and a loud, harsh voice came from the speakers.

“Who- Kanan Jarrus!” Hondo Ohnaka said, laughing in delight. “My, my, haven’t seen your face in a long time- though you haven’t seen mine either, eh?”

Kanan stifled a groan, pursing his lips and nodding.

“Hello, Hondo.”

“Kanan, Kanan, Kanan,” Hondo continued, hardly acknowledging that Kanan had even said anything. “What I’ve been hearing about you. First you were dead, then you were getting married- and I didn’t even get an invite to the wedding!”

“Sorry, Hondo,” Kanan said. “We, uh, didn’t really have room for that many guests.”

“Oh it’s alright, it’s alright. How’s Bridger? Oh- don’t tell me, I’ll look for him next time I pay a visit to Lothal!”

Kanan made a mental note to warn Ezra about that.

“Now, I assume you’re calling for business, yes?” Hondo asked. “You didn’t just want a little chat with old Hondo, did you?”

“That’s right. My wife and I are looking for some old droid parts, and I thought you might be able to help. I’ll pay your price… whatever that may be.”

“Old droid parts, yes! I’ve got plenty of those. How old are you talking?”

“A C-Series.”

Hondo let out a long whistle.

“Now, that’s old. What, eh, what exactly are you looking for?”

“A central processor,” Kanan said. “Core nanochips intact.”

“I’m sure I’ll find what you’re looking for, Jedi,” Hondo said. “And I’ll call you when I find it. Hondo won’t let you down!”

Kanan nodded- now, for his insurance.

“Hondo, you’ve set up on Batuu right?”

“Right! Edge of the galaxy!”

“Mmhmm. I have a friend that lives there, Hondo. His name is Jarek, and he agreed to pick the processor up for me. And he’s got an R1, so he knows his old droid parts. He knows how to make sure the chips are still there, that it’s the right model.”

“Oh…” Hondo said, faltering. “I see. Goodbye!”

Hondo abruptly hung up, and Kanan chuckled. He’d messaged Jarek just moments earlier, asking him for help, and he’d agreed, thankfully, to meet up with Hondo and find the processor for him, and to fly it out to them to make sure it wasn’t damaged. Kanan did decide to swing by the droid repair shop, asking about C-Series parts, but they weren’t any help, as he predicted. He got back home, noticing that Hera had been gone for quite a few hours, and it made his heart hurt. He could only imagine her desperately tearing through scrap metal, looking for anything that could help Chopper.

He knew how much she loved that droid, and was still kicking himself for his joke earlier- it was definitely not the time. He needed to prove to her that he did care about Chopper- hell, he was already missing his presence, waiting to hear his wheels come down the ramp tracks and his annoyed warbles. Hopefully, helping her with the parts would show that to her.

His comm rang, and he picked it up.

“Hey,” he said. “Any luck?”

“No,” she said. He could hear the pain in her voice, and it broke his heart. “Nothing, there’s nothing here. Any luck at the droid shop?”

Kanan hesitated- he wanted to tell her about Hondo, but he knew she’d be upset if it didn’t pan out, and she’d be angry at him for contacting the pirate.

“No, they didn’t have anything. I’m sorry, Hera, but we’ll find something. No matter how long it takes.”

“Mmhmm,” she said. “I’ll go pick up Jacen, I’ll be home soon. What are we going to tell him?”

Kanan hadn’t even thought of that.

“I- I don’t know.”

The holotable started ringing, and Kanan froze.

“Drive safe to get Jacen, hon,” he said quickly. “I won’t distract you. Bye, love you.”

“Love you too, b-”

Kanan quickly rushed over to the holotable, turning it on to take the call.

“Hey, Kanan,” Jarek Yeager said. Kanan internally celebrated- talking to Hondo again sounded exhausting.

“Hey,” Kanan said. “Thank you so much again for helping us out with this.”

“Of course,” Jarek said. “Least I could do. I met up with Hondo.”

“He have anything?”

“Actually, he did. You’ll never believe it, he had a whole C1 droid. A little different looking from your old droid, but the insides are all the same. The thing’s got an inhibitor chip fused to it, so it’ll never run again, but you could replace almost every part of your droid with this thing. These parts are good as new, it clearly hasn’t been used for decades.”

Kanan lit up. “That’s great! How much does he want for it?”

Yeager let out a low chuckle. “I haggled with him a little bit. Got him down to 900 credits for you.”

“That’s great, Yeager, thank you so much. I’ll transfer you the money, can you pay him?”

“Of course,” Yeager said. “If I leave in an hour, I could get it to you tonight. I’d need a place to stay, though. Just to sleep for a night.”

“You can crash with us,” Kanan said quickly. “Thank you so much. I’ll transfer you those credits.”

“Yeah,” Yeager said. “See you tonight, then.”

Kanan nodded. “Bye!”

The holotable clicked off, and Kanan took to transferring the credits with the datapad (being very careful with the voice commands and screen reader, as he couldn’t see the screen). He threw in some extra ones too, to thank Yeager and pay for his fuel.

Now, he just had to wait.

* * *

Hera had tried her very best to not show Jacen how upset she was. All she’d told him was that she had to do some maintenance on Chopper, so he’d be deactivated in his room for a little while- which wasn’t technically a lie. She didn’t clue him in to how dire the situation may have been, so he didn’t seem too bothered by it. She only hoped she wouldn’t have to later tell him that Chopper was gone and they’d have to get a new droid.

The idea of getting a new droid really broke her heart. Chopper was family, and was irreplaceable to her. They needed a droid, especially to help Kanan when he was home alone. Honestly, if it wasn’t for that, Hera wasn’t sure she’d even get a new droid if she couldn’t fix Chopper.

But they would fix Chopper. She was sure of it. Even if it took a year to find the parts- she wouldn’t give up on him. Because she knew Chopper wouldn’t give up on her.

When they got home, Jacen ran upstairs, and Hera just walked to the couch, exhausted. She couldn’t bring herself to go check on Chopper, seeing him so lifeless was too much for her. Kanan came over to her, and sat down, throwing an arm around her shoulder. He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple, and she sighed and leaned into him.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too. I ordered in for dinner tonight.

“Mmm,” Hera said. “That Melahnese place?”

“Yeah. And… I have a surprise for you.”

She lifted her head so she could look at him. “Oh yeah?”

He nodded. “I… made some calls, and Yeager found an old C1 droid. I bought the whole thing, he said it’s got all the internal parts in great condition.”

Hera’s jaw dropped, and she sat straight up. “Are you serious?”

Kanan smiled. “Yeah. He’s bringing it by tonight. I told him he could sleep here- I hope that’s okay.”

Hera’s shocked expression split into a huge grin. “Of course it is! Kanan- oh, love!”

She hugged him tight, and Kanan wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her. She pulled away after a few moments so she could kiss him, laying a hand on his cheek.

“Thank you so much- where did you even find something like that?”

Kanan shrugged. “Yeager lives on Batuu- they’ve got tons of old droids there.”

He was holding something back, but Hera definitely couldn’t bring herself to care. She’d be able to fix Chopper- and if this droid really had all the parts, she could give him a total makeover, and he’d be running as good as new- better than he ever had for her, that’s for sure.

The food Kanan had ordered was delivered soon enough, and she called Jacen down for dinner. They all ate around the table. Jacen inquired about Chopper, and Hera was now happy to explain that Yeager would be coming over to bring some of the parts she needed, and she’d have Chopper fixed soon.

She waited for Yeager with Kanan, and they sat for hours. Hera grew more and more nervous with each passing moment, and it wasn’t until about an hour after they had put Jacen to bed that she heard a knock on the door.

She rushed to the door, opening it to be greeted by a grinning Jarek Yeager, with a deactivated C-1 droid in tow. Hera smiled at him, welcoming him in. A severely modified R-1 droid with a pilot helmet on its head rolled in behind him.

“Thank you so, so much, Jarek,” Hera said. Yeager shrugged.

“Hey, I’m glad to help. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to old Bucket here,” he said, motioning to the R-1 droid.

Hera nodded gratefully. “Make yourself comfortable, we have some leftovers from dinner if you’re hungry. I’ll take this upstairs.”

“Okay,” Yeager said. “You need any help getting those parts in?”

Hera shook her head.

“No one fixes that droid but her,” Kanan chimed in. Hera chuckled.

“It’s true. But really, Yeager- you have no idea how grateful I am.”

“Anytime, General Syndulla.”

Hera happily took the C-1 upstairs, having to drag it across the floor and then lock it into the ramp wheels they’d built for Chopper. She got the droid to Chopper’s room, and then got to work at taking it apart. The first thing she did was replace the fried nanochip, but she also took apart the central processor and replaced any little parts of Chopper that she could without rewriting the whole droid. Then, she replaced almost all the internals of Chopper. She left his exterior untouched, as Chopper was pretty particular about how he looked, surprisingly enough, but she was happy to be able to replace the old servos, motors and fraying wiring that helped run Chopper. He did so much for her, it was the least she could do for him.

Soon enough, she’d just about run out of parts to replace, and decided that was enough. She reactivated Chopper, and stepped back as the lights started to come back on. Chopper warbled in surprise, asking her what happened, and she explained everything. Chopper gratefully rolled over to her, attempting to wrap his tiny little mechanical arms around her leg for a hug, and Hera patted his dome, just happy to see him run again.

After showing his gratitude to Hera, Chopper took to running himself in circles, and testing out his (now greatly improved) range of motion, warbling happily. Hera laughed as she watched him proudly, folding her arms with a smile on her face.

“I’ll have to go tell Kanan and Jarek,” Hera said. She left Chopper to continue testing out his new parts while she ran to the stairs to tell them the good news and thank them.

“I hear the droid,” Kanan said with a chuckle.

“Well, she’s been working on him for hours,” Jarek said. “I’d be worried if we didn’t.”

“I knew she could do it,” Kanan responded.

Hera smiled and started to go down the steps.

“I’m just surprised Hondo didn’t try and stiff us more for that droid,” Kanan said. Hera froze for a moment, and then stormed down the stairs.

“That droid is from  _ Hondo Ohnaka _ ?” Hera asked. Kanan’s eyes widened in panic, and Yeager started laughing.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” he said.

Hera couldn’t resist her own smile, but Kanan couldn’t see it.

“I’m sorry, it was the best I can think of- and it worked out okay, right? I mean, is Chopper working?”

Hera laughed, and went over to sit down next to Kanan, who seemed very relieved by her good humor about it.

“He’s working fine- better, actually. Thanks again, Jarek.”

He shrugged. “Happy to help.”

“We have some sleep mats for you-”

“Oh no,” Jarek said. “I just need the couch, but thank you.”

“Okay,” Hera said, nodding. Chopper rolled down the ramp, and showed Jarek and Kanan how quickly and smoothly he could run now.

“You should thank both of them,” Hera told them. “They’re the ones that got all the new parts for me.”

But Chopper didn’t pay Yeager or Kanan any mind- he just started talking to Bucket. They were both warbling away at each other. Hera just shook her head and looked to Yeager.

“May be the start of a new friendship,” he said.

Hera laughed as she watched the droids- more than anything, she was just happy that Chopper was okay. Then she looked to her husband- and was so grateful that she had someone so dedicated to her happiness that he’d contact a pirate he didn’t like just to help her.


	25. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacen invites a friend from school to have a sleepover, and Hera and Kanan get to meet his mom.

“Your friend is here,” Hera called up the stairs as she walked towards the front door, which someone just knocked on. Jacen bounded down the stairs, running to the door. Hera chuckled and shook her head, her hand hovering over the panel on the wall next to the door.

“Your room is clean?” Hera asked.

“Yes.”

“Promise?”

“Mommy!”

Hera laughed again, smiling as she pressed the button. The door slid open, and she was greeted by the smiling face of a dark-skinned human woman with curly black hair, pulled back into a bun on top of her head, with some strands framing her face.

“Hi,” Hera said, extending a hand to the woman. “I’m Hera, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

The woman took Hera’s hand, shaking it. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Laina. This is my son, Grant.”

She motioned to the little boy next to her, with his mother’s complexion and hair (though his was cropped shorter). Hera smiled at the boy.

“Hi, Grant, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hi Grant!” Jacen chirped. Hera and Laina both laughed, and Hera ushered them in. Jacen immediately took Grant by the hand and went to take him upstairs, presumably to show him the toys in his room.

“He’s been excited for this all week,” Laina said. “He wouldn’t stop talking about it.”

Hera chuckled and nodded, showing Laina into the living room so they could both sit down. “Jacen was the same way. I’m glad he’s made a friend at school.”

Laina nodded. “I know how you feel.”

Hera saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head to see Kanan slowly coming into the living room.

“Oh, Laina,” Hera said, standing up and going over to Kanan. “This is my husband, Kanan. Kanan, this is Laina, Grant’s mom.”

“Oh,” Kanan said. “Nice to meet you.”

They both sat down on the couch.

“Where are the boys?” Kanan asked.

“Upstairs. Probably in Jacen’s room,” Hera said. Kanan nodded.

“Thank you so much for hosting,” Laina said. “I’m sure Grant will have a lot of fun- he’s always talking about what he and Jacen get up to at school.”

Hera laughed. “Of course. You’re staying for dinner, right?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I made plenty,” Kanan said. “It’ll be out of the oven in about twenty minutes, and won’t be much longer after that.”

Laina and Hera thanked Kanan, and they continued to talk, laughing about what their sons get up to.

* * *

Laina left not long after dinner was finished, hugging Grant tight and kissing him before saying goodbye. Once she left, the boys went back up to Jacen’s room to play, and Hera sat down on the couch. Kanan sat down next to her, and she leaned against him, yawning.

“I’ll help you clean the kitchen later, love,” she said. Kanan nodded and pulled her closer to him.

“It sounded like they’re having fun up there,” Kanan said.

“Mmhmm.”

There was a long, quiet pause.

“I’m glad he gets to do stuff like this,” Kanan said. “That he gets to just… be a normal kid.”

“Because we didn’t get to,” Hera agreed.

“Exactly.”

They could hear the thumps of rowdy playtime, along with happy giggles coming from upstairs, and Hera and Kanan both laughed quietly.


	26. Family Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ghost Crew (and their significant others) get together for a family vacation when Jacen has his first week off of school.

Hera and Kanan had to stand back while the younger members of their family mobbed poor Zeb. Jacen had seemingly climbed up onto him, clinging to his shoulders, while both Sabine and Ezra hugged him tight. Kallus was laughing at him as he struggled to manage it all, and Ketsu and Jai also stood aside, trying to hold back laughter.

The family had just arrived to the beach where they’d be spending the next couple of days. Hera and Kanan had gone and picked up Sabine, Ezra and both of their partners to travel with them, while Zeb and Kallus had just agreed to meet them there since Lirasan was so much further away. 

“Alright, kids,” Hera finally said with a light chuckle. “I think we need to give Zeb a break here.”

Sabine and Ezra stepped back, laughing, but Jacen clung on. With his arms now free, Zeb was able to grab Jacen and just hold him like he normally would, much to the delight of Jacen.

“How’s school going, kid?” Zeb asked.

“Good,” Jacen giggled.

Hera smiled as she watched them, feeling Kanan put a hand on her shoulder. It was Jacen’t first week off from school, so they were all celebrating by taking a family vacation. She reached her hand up to cover Kanan’s, feeling the warmth of the low sun on her back as it was setting.

“Yeah? Are you making friends?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Good to hear,” Zeb said, turning to face the rest of the family. “Did you guys eat something on the way here?”

“We did,” Kanan said. “Did you guys have dinner?”  
“Yeah,” Zeb said. “We should probably all go to the hotel rooms then. Get some rest before hitting the water tomorrow, huh?”

Sabine yawned. “Sounds good to me.”

They all went to the hotel, checking in with their bags (Chopper gleefully showed off his new servos and motors on the way, doing elaborate spins and loops). They took the lift up to their rooms together. Combined, they’d gotten four rooms, all next to each other in the same hallway. Zeb and Kallus had gotten their own room, Sabine and Ketsu got their own, and Ezra and Jai got one too. Hera and Kanan got the biggest room, since they needed an extra bed for Jacen too.

After bidding goodnight and all going to their rooms, they all got ready for bed. Kanan tucked Jacen in and quietly told him a bedtime story while Hera plugged Chopper’s charger in for him. It wasn’t long after that when Hera laid down in bed, waiting for Kanan to come join her once he finished telling his story to Jacen and made sure he dozed off. Just a few moments later, she could hear quiet snores from Jacen, and that’s when Kanan climbed into bed next to her, sliding under the covers and pulling her close.

* * *

Kanan leaned back in his chair on the beach. He could faintly hear Jacen playing with Ezra and Jai in the water, while closer to the blanket that they’d laid out Sabine and Ketsu bickered playfully over something they were building in the sand. Kallus and Zeb both snored on the blanket, and Chopper had opted to stay at the hotel so he didn't get sand in his new parts. Hera was sitting next to him- and he realized he didn’t really know what she was up to.

“What are you doing, hon?” Kanan asked, lifting his head.

Hera didn’t answer, but Kanan realized that he could hear tapping- was she on her datapad?

“Hera.”

“Oh,” she said quickly. “Sorry, love. Just doing some assignments for my courses. Just because Jacen has off, doesn’t mean I do.”

Kanan nodded. “At least you can do them here.”

“Exactly,” she said. “I’m almost done with today’s work- want to go for a swim when I’m finished?

“I’d love to.”

Kanan smiled, and leaned back once more, taking slow, deep breaths, listening to the sounds of small waves crashing onto the beach and the sounds of his family enjoying themselves around him. He hadn’t realized he’d drifted off until he felt gentle taps on his arm that woke him up.

“Sorry,” Hera said. “Were you asleep?”

“No, no,” Kanan said, sitting up and twisting his shoulders to stretch. “Are you ready for that swim?”

“Mmhmm. Careful not to step on Zeb and Kallus.”

Hera took his hand and guided him through, and then pulled him more quickly so that they were running through the sand together to get to the water.

“Hi Mommy!” Jacen said as they ran by. “Hi Daddy!”

“Hi, sweetheart,” Hera called back. Kanan waved in the direction of his voice, and he quickly felt the texture of the sand change underneath his feet as they got closer to the water- and only a moment after that, he could feel splashes around his ankles. Hera slowed down once they got into the water, and she slowly pulled them out until Kanan was about waist-deep in the water. He felt Hera throw her arms over his neck and kiss him, and he happily kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her.

The small waves swayed them slightly, and Kanan could hear them break on the shore just a little after they passed them. Hera pulled away from the kiss, and pulled him down slightly so she could rest her forehead against his- though Kanan didn’t have to bend down quite as much as normal, and he could feel her feet were lifted slightly off of the ocean bed.

“This reminds me of our honeymoon,” Kanan said quietly. Hera chuckled.

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

She broke away from him, and Kanan let her go- only to be splashed by water a moment later. He gasped in shock.

“Hey!”

She laughed, and he could hear her splashing through the water as she swam away. Kanan chased the sound, splashing towards her and hearing her laugh even more when the water would hit her, and when he did splash her, he’d often feel himself be greeted by another splash of water himself.

“Get him, Hera!” Sabine called from the beach, and Kanan just shook his head laughing as he continued to chase after his wife, who just splashed him back the whole time.

* * *

“I got it!” Hera shouted, running to the ball as it soared through the air. She jumped up and smacked it with the side of her fist, and it flew over the net. Kallus dived for it on the other side, but was too late as the ball hit the ground just as she did. Hera grinned and gave Zeb a high-five.

“Another point for the non-humans, love, mark that down,” she said to Kanan, who was sitting on the side with Jacen on his lap.

When Sabine and Ketsu were setting up the moopsball net, Ezra had joked that they should play a game of humans versus non-humans, setting Hera and Zeb up for a game of two-on-five. What they _hadn’t_ known when Hera and Zeb accepted it was that Hera used to play a lot as a girl on Ryloth, and while Zeb needed a round or two to really learn the game, his physicality quickly proved perfect for it.

“Okay, Hera,” Ezra- who had earlier been scolded for cheating with the Force- said, slightly out of breath. “I get it, I’m sorry, you’re really good. Can we do more fair teams now?”

“More fair teams?” Hera said with a coy smile and an eyebrow raised. “You’re the team of five, if anything I should be the one asking for more fair teams.”

“Hera-”

“Hey, first to twenty-one, right? Kanan, how are we doing?”

Kanan and Jacen whispered a little bit before Kanan called back to her.

“Non-humans have seventeen,” he said. “Humans have six.”

“Thank you,” Hera said. “Don’t worry, Ezra, we can take a break after Zeb and I beat you. Your team’s serve!”

It was only a few more rounds later that Hera and Zeb won, though Sabine managed to score another point for her team before the game ended. Tired, they all walked back to the blanket where Kanan and Jacen were, all flopping down, careful to avoid the intricate sandcastle that Sabine and Ketsu had built. Hera sat next to Kanan, and Jacen climbed onto her lap. Hera chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, gently running her fingers through his hair. Kanan leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“That game brings out your really competitive side. You’re kinda scary, you know that?”

Hera laughed and looked at him, pushing a strand of damp hair away from his face.

“Thought that was why you liked me.”


	27. Certification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera has completed her teaching program, and now just needs to get certified.

Hera sat in the waiting room at the New Republic office on Yavin IV. She’d completed her program to get certified as a flight instructor, and now just needed to officially get her certification filing done. She drummed her fingers on her lap, looking around the room. Kanan sat next to her, waiting with her, and Jacen was on the floor in the corner quietly playing with a wooden toy they had set out, with colorful beads that he got to slide across different bars that went in all different shapes. It was fairly early, so they were the only ones in the waiting room, which had plain white walls with very little art on them. The only furniture in the room was a single grey table and all of the blue chairs against the walls, two of which were occupied by Hera and her husband.

“You nervous?” Kanan asked her.

Hera looked at him, and shook her head.

“Oh, no. I mean, I’ve already done all the work. This is just a formality.”

Kanan nodded, and smiled. He moved his hand to her lap, gently taking hold of the hand that was just drumming a moment ago.

“I’m so proud of you, Hera,” he said. “You worked so hard, and you’ve earned this.”

Hera smiled back at him, leaning over to quickly peck his cheek.

“Thank you, love. But I have to say, I couldn’t have done it without your support. You picked up a lot around the house, and with Jacen- I needed you.”

Kanan squeezed her hand, but before he could say anything back, the door slid open abruptly.

“Hera Syndulla,” an older, teal-skinned Nautolan man read off a datapad. “I’m ready to see you.”

“Good luck,” Kanan whispered. Hera squeezed his hand once before letting go, standing up and walking towards the door with Nautolan, who led her down a hallway to an office with the name “Rakalo Lott” inscribed on the door. The Nautolan lead her into his office, and directed her to a chair, which she sat in as he went around to the other side of his desk to sit too.

“So, General Syndulla,” Rakalo said. “I understand you completed the flight educator’s program, yes?”

Hera nodded. “Yes.”

“Good, good,” he said, flipping through different screens on his datapad. “And we have enough records of your flying during the war that we’ve waived the flight exam for you, so there’s no worry about that…”

Hera looked around his office. All over his walls were different degrees, actually printed out on flimsi, from different universities across the galaxy. Behind him was a tall bookshelf, filled with actual books, too, which she’d hardly seen before in her life.

“Alright, General,” Rakalo said again. “Your certification has been filed. Would you like a physical copy?”

Hera’s eyes flitted to one of the degrees that he had framed on his wall, and she nodded.

“Yes, I would like that.”

“No problem- that should arrive at your home in the next few days. Any other filing I can help you with, while you’re here?”

“Actually,” Hera said. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to withdraw from the New Republic Navy Reserves.”

Rakalo nodded, tapping on his datapad. “Just reserves? That’s easy then. Would you like to join the Yavin IV Civilian Force?”

“I would.”

He flashed her a smile. “Perfect. It’ll be great to have General Syndulla on hand to protect us here.”

Hera smiled back at him as he continued tapping things on his datapad. After a few moments, Rakalo grabbed a stylus and turned the datapad around, sitting it on the desk in front of Hera and handing her the stylus.

“We just need you to sign here, then.”

Hera scribbled her signature on the screen, and then he quickly took it back.

“Thank you, General,” he said. “That’s all we need from you then.”

Hera nodded. “Thank you again. Have a nice day.”

“Goodbye.”

He gestured towards the door, and Hera stood up, seeing herself out. She walked back out towards the waiting room. When the door opened, she saw Kanan standing there, Jacen at his side. Hera chuckled.

“Hey, love.”

Kanan came towards her, pulling her into a tight hug. There were a couple of people in the waiting room watching them now, but Hera didn’t care.

“Congratulations, hon,” Kanan whispered. “I’m so, so proud of you.”

Hera felt small arms wrap around her legs, and looked down to see Jacen hugging her. She chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“Alright,” she said. “Celebratory brunch? I get to pick the place.”

Kanan kissed her cheek and Hera walked out of the office, holding Kanan’s hand in one hand, and Jacen’s in the other.


	28. First Last-Day of School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacen has a last day of school for the first time.

“Do you think he’ll be upset?”

Hera looked over from the driver’s seat of the speeder to look at Kanan in the passenger seat. They were on their way to pick Jacen up for his last day of school this year, and he looked worried.

“Probably a little,” Hera admitted, bringing her eyes back to the road. “He did love it. But we’ll just have to make sure that he knows he can have his friends come over anytime over break, and that he’ll be back in a few months.”

Hera saw Kanan nod out of the corner of her eye, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s cute how much you worry about him.”

“Hey, he’s my son, of course I worry about him.”

“I know, I know,” Hera responded with a chuckle as she made the turn to start to pull in to the school. “I just said it was cute.”

Hera parked the speeder, leaning back in her seat. She reached over put her hand on Kanan’s shoulder, gently stroking with her thumb.

“I love you,” she said. “I’m… I’m glad I get to be a parent with you.”

Kanan reached his hand up to rest it over her hand. “I love you too. And I am so lucky to parent with you.”

Hera squeezed his shoulder and slipped her hand away, looking out towards the school building just as children started to flood out and come down the stairs. Most of the children were human, but there were a few non-human children of various shades. However, Hera was only looking for a green head of hair among them.

“Do you see him?” Kanan asked.

“Not… yes! He just came out.”

Jacen bounded down the stairs, blue schoolbag on his back chatting with a couple of other children. Hera smiled and got out of the speeder, standing by to watch Jacen break off from his friends and come over to them. When he saw Hera, he broke into a run, and once he came close enough Hera could hear him giggling. She knelt down to catch him in a tight hug, scooping him and his backpack up, spinning him around as she held him close and kissed his cheek.

“How was your last day of school, sweetheart?”

“Good,” Jacen said. “We just played games today.”

“That’s good,” Hera said. “Sounds fun. Come on, let’s take you home.”

Hera took his bag for him, and helped him into the back of the speeder. She saw Kanan get out of his seat, and come to the back too, greeting Jacen.

“Oh, love,” she said. “I don’t need help, you just sit.”

“I’m not helping, hon,” he said with a cheeky smile. “I’m gonna sit back here with my son.”

Jacen giggled, and reached out to hug Kanan, who placed hands on the sides of his head and pressed a kiss to Jacen’s forehead. Hera pulled away from them and smiled.

“Alright, then. You two hold on back there, I’ll take us home.”

* * *

Hera was woken up in the morning by small hands shaking her arm. She lazily threw her other hand up to groggily rub at her eyes as she sat up.

“What?” Hera asked.

Jacen sniffled.

“I wanna go to school.”

Hera pulled her hand from her eyes, furrowing her brows as she looked at Jacen.

“You wish you could go to school?”

He nodded sheepishly.

“It was fun.”

Hera smiled and reached out to pull Jacen into bed with her and Kanan, pulling Jacen close and snuggling him. She pushed some locks of hair away from his face with her fingers and cupped his cheek.

“I know, sweetheart,” she said. “But it was also work, right? So you’ll get a break from all that work, and then you get to go back next season.”

“But I miss my friends.”

“Of course,” Hera said gently. “But they all live here on Yavin, so you can go play with them at the park, or we could invite them over here.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Hera said, wiping away a small tear on his cheek. “Now… are you hungry?”

Jacen giggled. “Maybe.”

“Me too. Let’s wake Daddy up and see if he’ll make us anything for breakfast, then we can try and figure out some plans to invite your friends over, okay?”

“Okay!”

Jacen crawled over Hera to reach Kanan and shake him awake, which Hera watched with delight and adoration.


	29. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacen is able to invite a bunch of school friends (and Poe) over for a party during break, and Hera and Kanan have to entertain the parents.

Hera took to hiding in the kitchen for a breather. Jacen had invited a bunch of his friends from school to come hang out in a party over break, and all of their parents were in the living room talking while the kids played outside. All of the parents were very nice, and Hera was having a great time, but she did need a bit of a break. Like most people in the Yavin colony, the parents of Jacen’s friends were veterans from the war, and the conversation had shifted to looking back on wartime. Hera didn’t mind talking about the war, but sometimes it got to be a little much, so she’d excused herself to the kitchen.

She took a deep breath, leaning against the wall. She enjoyed the quiet for a few moments, before noticing Kanan poke his head into the kitchen. She smiled.

“Hey, love.”

“Hey,” he said, coming close to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hera said, nodding. Kanan gently took her hands in his once he reached her. “I’m fine. Just needed to step out for a minute.”

“Okay,” Kanan said. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, squeezing her hands. “Just wanted to make sure you were doing alright. Are you having a good time?”

His brows were furrowed in concern, and Hera chuckled at how cute he looked.

“Yes, I am. They were just talking about the war a lot, and… well, I needed a moment to myself, I think.”

“Oh, I can leave-”

Hera pulled her hands away from Kanan, but then stepped into him and hugged him tight. Kanan wrapped his arms around her only a second later, holding her close to him.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Hera mumbled. She pulled away, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Come on, love,” she said. “Let’s go be good hosts.”

* * *

When it was time to eat, the parents called their children in, and they all rushed into the house. Hera never felt that their home was particularly small, but it certainly felt crowded with all of these people in it. She had helped Kanan pretty much the entire day previous with cooking plenty of food for everyone, and it was well-worth it- everything was delicious. She sat on the floor and ate in one of the corners with Shara, who was the only parent there that didn’t have a child in school yet.

“It looks like Poe is having fun playing with the older kids,” Hera remarked. Shara nodded.

“Yeah, I’m glad. When he starts school, he’ll have some friends in the higher grades, so hopefully that will help him be more confident. I’m worried he’ll be scared about school.”

“I was worried about Jacen too,” Hera admitted. “But he was really excited. I’m sure Poe will be too, he seems to be really outgoing for his age.”

Shara snorted. “Yeah, outgoing is a word. Sometimes I think about getting a leash for him when we go to the park.”

Hera laughed with Shara, eating their food. Most of the kids had moved to the grass outside to eat- and based on the shrieks of laughter she could hear Hera was sure that most of the parents in the house with her would be cleaning sauce and mashed vegetables off of their children when they got home.

But everyone seemed to be having a good time, at least. So that was something.


	30. Ryloth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Syndulla family take a trip to Ryloth to visit Cham and some Twi'lek cultural points.

Hera pulled away from her hug with her father, only for her place to swiftly be taken by Jacen. She chuckled.

“Careful Jacen, remember the cane,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cham said to his grandson. Hera shook her head and looked at Kanan, who was just smiling happily as he heard Jacen giggle.

The Syndullas were staying with Cham so Hera could take Jacen to the Festival of Awakening. It was the biggest one that was being thrown on Ryloth since before Hera was even born, as everyone was so excited about peacetime. They’d arrived a little early too, because Hera wanted Jacen to see the Floating Rock Gardens.

Cham invited them all into his home to sit down and relax.

“I made lunch,” Cham said. “Then we can go to the gardens, how’s that sound?”

“Aw, dad you didn’t have to-”

“Of course I did,” he said, cutting Hera off. “Go sit, I’ll bring it.”

Hera of course, didn’t listen, following him to the kitchen so she could help him bring the food out for all of them. Her mouth watered once the scent hit her- fried mynock and munch-fungus bread. She took the big plate of fried mynock out and set it on the table where Kanan and Jacen were already sitting, while her father took the munch-fungus.

“Thank you,” Kanan said earnestly. “Jacen, what do we say?”

“Thank you.”

Cham dished out a plate of mynock and bread for Jacen, while Hera helped guide Kanan into getting his own plate filled before getting hers. 

“Hopefully it’s as good as your mother’s was,” Cham said. Hera smiled at him before digging into her food.

* * *

The ride to the Floating Rock Gardens was much shorter than Hera had remembered from her childhood. She hadn’t gone to see it since she was very young, both her father and mother accompanying her. It was weird, sitting in the back of her father’s speeder again, only this time her mother wasn’t in the seat next to him.

Hera looked over to Kanan and Jacen, who were enjoying the ride. She leaned over to press a kiss to the top of Jacen’s head.

“I love you, Jacen,” she said. He looked up at her with a smile.

“I love you too!”

Hera chuckled, reaching behind Jacen to take Kanan’s hand. He squeezed it firmly, and Hera squeezed back.

Soon, they arrived to the Floating Rock Gardens. They could see a lot of the larger rocks floating in the air, and Jacen gasped.

“Woah,” he said. “They use the Force.”

Kanan raised an eyebrow.

“Actually,” Hera explained. “It’s the atmosphere- the winds in this area that makes them float. But it looks like that, huh?”

Cham stopped the speeder and they all got out, Hera holding Kanan’s hand as he stepped on the slightly uneven ground. A few pebbles were floating around, and Jacen was giggling as he pushed them around, arranging them into shapes. Cham leaned on his cane as he walked over to Jacen, watching him play with the pebbles.

“Come on now,” Cham said. “Follow me, Jacen, we’ll go look at the big stones. And there’s some colorful small ones too, alright?”

Cham walked slowly down the trail, Jacen happily following him. Hera took Kanan’s hand and pulled him after them, laughing at him when he walked right into some floating pebbles, one of them sticking to his forehead before he pushed it away.

“Sorry, love,” Hera said through her laughter. “I’ll try and warn you next time. Come on, this way.”

They caught up quickly with Jacen and Cham, and Hera heard her father telling her son a story about when he was a young boy and would play with his friends in the Gardens.

“We used to bring your momma here too, Jacen,” Cham said. “When she was about your age. Isn’t that right?”

Jacen looked back at Hera as he walked, and Hera smiled.

“Yes. I’m glad they’re still here, it’s been such a long time. I was worried that the Empire… well, you know.”

“Nah,” Cham said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “They never destroyed anything that they could make money off of tourism for.”

Hera sighed.

“That’s true.”

They continued their walk through the gardens, admiring both the big stones and the small, colorful ones floating about.

“It’s even more beautiful than I remembered,” Hera said. “I guess I didn’t appreciate it enough as a kid.”

She looked to Kanan, who wore a sad smile, and she squeezed his hand.

“Sorry, love.”

Kanan shrugged. “I’m just glad you and Jacen are enjoying yourselves.”

She smiled, and they continued their walk through the gardens, watching Jacen gleefully admire the stones and listening to his grandfather’s stories.

* * *

“It’s loud here,” Kanan shouted over the sound of the festival happening around them.

“I know,” Hera shouted back. She had a tight grip on his hand so they didn’t lose each other in the crowd, and Kanan knew that she was holding Jacen’s hand with her other hand, while Cham also held Jacen’s hand.

For the first time since when he was just adjusting to being blind, Kanan felt totally lost. Normally, he relied on the Force to give him a sense of his surroundings, especially in relation to other people, creatures and even plants that he could feel the energy of- plus noises from things like droids and machines to help him, along with his own memory of the layout of places, like the  _ Ghost _ or their home on Yavin IV.

But right now? He was in an unfamiliar area, at a crowded festival filled with so many living beings and noises, he was just frankly overstimulated. It was way too much for him to be able to figure out how to get around, and it was frustrating.

“Dad,” he heard Hera say. “There’s a table over there, let’s go sit, and I’ll grab food for us.”

He was pulled over and in the dining area away from the crowd, Kanan felt like he could breathe easier. The music and cheery, dancing crowds could still be heard, but Kanan felt more comfortable here.

It was crazy how when he was younger, he’d spend probably too much time at bars and clubs just as crowded. That life felt so far behind him now- not that he was complaining.

Kanan felt Hera’s hands- one on his back, one holding his hand- gently guiding him to sit down. Even earlier, in the haze of the festival’s crowds, he could feel her concern for him. He really loved how much she cared.

“I’ll go get us some food,” she said. “I saw them selling roast gornt at one of the stands, does a bowl for everyone sound nice?”

“Yes,” Kanan said, as did Cham and Jacen. He couldn’t hear Hera’s footsteps, but he felt her getting further away.

“This is fun!” Jacen said.

Kanan smiled.

“I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

“Grandpa said he’d take me to play some of the games after we eat,” Jacen said proudly. “I’m gonna win that stuffed burrg I saw.”

“Blurrg,” Cham corrected.

“Blurrg,” Jacen repeated.

Kanan chuckled, and while Jacen rambled about the games he wanted to play, he felt the familiar, comforting presence of Hera coming back.

“Be careful,” she said, and Kanan heard the sound of a tray being set on the table. “Take a bowl, but they’re really hot.”

She sat next to him, and he heard her put a bowl in front of him. Kanan smiled gratefully.

“Thank you.”

After they ate, Cham fulfilled his promise to Jacen, taking him to go play some games, but Kanan stayed seated.

“You go,” he said to Hera. “I’ll save our table.”

But Hera didn’t move to follow Cham and Jacen.

“Love, are you having fun?”

“I’m happy you and Jacen-”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Kanan hesitated.

“I’m alright,” he said. “It’s just… there’s a lot going on here, to sense and to hear. And I can’t use my eyes to make sense of it all like you can. I need a little break, that’s all.”

“I understand, love. But are you enjoying yourself?”

Kanan had to think about that.

Honestly, he was. Spending every moment with Hera and Jacen, especially a happy Hera and Jacen, was all he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Plus now, distanced from the crowd, he could really appreciate the positive energies coming from the celebration. Everyone here was just happy, having fun and excited about being free.

“Yes,” he said with a smile. “I am. Go join Jacen, play his games with him.”

“Nah,” Hera said. “He deserves some bonding time with his grandpa. Besides- dad said he’d record it, so I can watch the holos of him playing later. I’d rather just sit here with my husband for now.”

Kanan grinned, and then leaned in to kiss her. Hera reached her hand up to cup his face, and she still left it there after they broke the kiss.

“Besides,” she admitted. “It’s a little loud over there for me.”

Kanan laughed, and kissed her again.


	31. New Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera starts her new job as a flight instructor.

Kanan caught her in the kitchen making the caf that Hera was taking to work.

“Hey,” he said. “You didn’t wake me up.”

“I’m sorry, love,” Hera said. “It’s so early, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Well, I couldn’t have let you go to your first day of work without wishing you luck, huh?”

Hera smiled.

“Thank you, dear.”

“And Chopper and I will drop Jacen off for his first day back at school.”

Hera was a little sad that she’d be missing taking Jacen back for his first day of his second school year. He’d been so excited about it the night before, and she wished she got to kiss him goodbye in the morning.

“Yes, thank you,” Hera said.

“So… Professor Syndulla, huh?”

Hera snorted.

“Don’t start with that, you already call me ‘General’ enough.”

“I know,” he said. “Collect any more titles, and I won’t be using your name at all.”

She playfully elbowed him as she sealed the lid on her caf.

“Alright, I really have to go.”

“I know,” Kanan pouted. “Good luck- you’re going to be amazing.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in to kiss her, which Hera eagerly reciprocated. After a moment, she reached behind him with her hand that wasn’t holding the caf to pull his ponytail loose. He broke apart from her, laughing.

“Hey!”

“Have fun taking Jacen!” Hera called back as she walked out the door. She climbed into the speeder and entered into the navicomputer to give her the directions to get to Bodhi Rook Flight Academy.

* * *

The students in Hera’s lecture hall all had their eyes on her. She had a pretty diverse classroom- different species in all different shapes and colors. It was a little nerve-wracking, but being a general in the Rebellion, Hera was very good at taking command of the room. Most of her students were taking notes of what she was saying already, even though with it just being the first day of her class, Hera wasn’t sure why.

“The first half of this year’s course,” she explained. “Will be theoretical. We’ll talk about the basics of how ships run, different types of maneuvers and what they’re good for, how to use all of the systems of a ship to your advantage and basic ship maintenance. I know this is the part that probably seems more boring to you all.”

She earned a few chuckles from the class for that, and she smiled.

“But, it’s just as important. In the second half of the year, that’s when I’ll get you flying. We’ll be practicing different formations, runs and moves in some X-Wings being loaned to us by Rook Academy. And if I have enough confidence in you all by the end of the year, we’ll go out of the atmosphere for a race.”

Her students got excited by that, which Hera figured they would. If there was one thing young hot-shot pilots loved, it was racing. And Hera would know- she was also once a young hot-shot pilot.

“But until then,” she said. “We study. I gave you all the codes to add your textbook to your datapads, and I want you to read the first section- it’s only a few pages- tonight. Come back tomorrow, and we’ll discuss it. I know you’ve all got your other classes, so I’ll let you go, but I’ll be in my office down the hall until then, alright? Any questions?”  
The students nodded, all staring at her, none raising their hands to ask her anything.

“Class dismissed, then.”

The students all packed up their bags and left their seats, chattering as they walked out the door, presumably towards another class. Hera was still packing up her own things when the last student in the lecture, a young woman with skin slightly darker than Kanan’s, and black hair pulled into a bun on the back of her head approached.

“Professor Syndulla?”

Hera looked up and smiled at her. “Yes?”

“I, uh… I wanted to thank you. I’m from Lothal, and my family and I lived in Tarkintown when I was young.”

Hera softened a bit. “Oh- Tarkintown. I’m so sorry about what happened there… I didn’t know there were any survivors.”

Hera always wished that they could’ve been there to help save the people of Tarkintown when the Empire burned it down, and she knew her crew did too.

The young woman nodded. “There weren’t very many. My sister and I took the children and fled when the Empire attacked. Our parents didn’t make it.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Hera said. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“It’s alright. I just… I still remember when you and your team would bring food and supplies to us. Sometimes, that was the only food we got for a while. I’m still so grateful for what you did for us. I remember I used to watch the skies on Lothal, looking for your ship. That’s why I wanted to become a pilot. And when I saw your name on the roster- well, I had to pick this class.”

Hera’s heart felt like it could burst at what the young woman was saying. To hear from someone that the work she did really mattered to them personally, and that she’d inspired someone to fly the same way she’d been inspired as a girl… well, it really was something.

“Thank you,” Hera said, her voice as genuine as could be. “That means a lot. I’m glad you’ve survived, and are in my class. I think we’ll enjoy working together, uh-”

“Danika,” she said. “And thank you, professor. I hope we will.”

Danika left, a little skip in her step as she walked out the door, and Hera gathered up her things, sliding the straps of her bag over her shoulder and going down the hall to her office.

When she opened the door, she blinked in surprise at the figure standing in her office.

“AP-5?”

“Oh yes, hello Professor Syndulla,” the droid said. “I have good news- I have been assigned as your assistant droid! Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Um… yes, it is,” Hera said slowly. “I thought you were working for the Chancellor’s aides.”

“It seems they no longer needed me. And I made a request to work for you, Professor.”

“That’s… great, AP,” Hera said.

“Indeed. Where is C1-10P?”

“Oh,” Hera said. “He didn’t come with me, he stayed to help Kanan take Jacen to school. Since Kanan can’t exactly drive, you know.”

“I see,” AP-5 said. “Well, perhaps I could come home with you? I’d be of great assistance there, helping you grade things and such.”

Hera smiled- AP-5 just wanted to see Chopper. Those droids had always had an odd affection for each other since they met- not that Hera was going to complain, of course, she was happy that Chopper had a droid friend.

“Of course,” Hera said. “I have to stay in my office until the end of the day in case any students need me, but then I’ll take you home, how’s that sound? Did you bring a charger?”

“Yes,” AP-5 said. “There.”

Hera looked over to see a crate with grav-lifts in the corner of her office.

“Perfect,” she said. “Welcome to the family, AP.”

* * *

Hera pushed the grav-lift crate through the front door, AP-5 following her.

“They must not be home yet from picking Jacen up,” Hera said. “I’ll take your charger up to Chopper’s room. Follow me.”

Hera showed AP-5 the basic layout of their house- the kitchen and dining room in the front, their living room and downstairs bathroom, then upstairs where that bathroom and the bedrooms where. She plugged AP-5’s charger in for him, next to Chopper’s. Hera looked at the chrono on the wall and frowned.

“They should’ve been home by n-”

The door opened downstairs, and Hera smiled, going down to greet her family.

“Hey!”

“Daddy got me a treat!” Jacen said. Hera laughed.

“Oh, that’s what took so long.”

“Thought he earned it,” Kanan said, giving her a kiss. “How was work? Tell me everything.”

“Soon, love,” Hera promised. “Chopper, come here.”

Chopper rolled over to her, and she patted the top of his dome.

“There’s someone moving in with us,” Hera said. She pointed to the stairs, just as AP-5 arrived at the bottom of them. Chopper made an excited warble, considerably higher-pitched than his usual ones, and sped over to AP-5, and the two droids began chattering. Hera smiled as she watched them.

“Jacen,” she said. “That’s AP-5, you should go say high.”

Jacen went over to join the droids, and Kanan put his arm around Hera’s waist.

“How did that happen?” Kanan asked.

“He was assigned as my assistant droid,” Hera said with a shrug. “I thought it would make Chopper happy. Plus, it’ll be good for you- when I start flying with my students, I’ll need to take Chopper to work with me, so AP will be able to help you get Jacen to school.”

“Works for me,” Kanan said. “You’ve gotta tell me about your day now.”

Hera thought back to Danika from Tarkintown.

“I will,” she said. “I’ve got a message, actually, to pass along to you and the rest of the crew.”


	32. Wedding Holos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera accidentally shows her class one of her wedding pictures, and they want to see more.

Hera connected the lecture hall’s big holoprojector to her datapad, and looked out across her class, who were all waiting patiently for class to start.

“Good morning,” she said, turning around to face the class, but they all seemed fixated on the hologram. That confused Hera- her first lecture slide wasn’t that interesting.

“You look so nice there, professor,” one of her students said. Over the first month and a half of the course, she felt that she and her class had gotten to know each other pretty well, and were able to be more casual with one another, which Hera preferred.

But she had no idea what this student was talking about.

“What?” Hera asked, turning around to look up at her lecture slide- only to find one of her wedding holographs being projected up there.

“Oh!” Hera exclaimed, rushing to go put the presentation up with her datapad. “I’m sorry, that- that was an accident. I was looking at them last night, and… well, I’m sorry. Anyway-”

Some of her students laughed.

“Oh come on, Professor,” one said. “Just show us your wedding holos!”

“I’m sure most of you don’t want to-”

She was cut off by begs from students, pleading to see them. Hera was sure that they just wanted to not have to do work in class and she rolled her eyes- before realizing that she could use this.

“You know what?” Hera said with a smirk. “I’ll make a deal. We’re having a quiz after the lesson today- if  _ everybody _ gets a nine or higher, we’ll end class early and go through all my wedding holos. How’s that sound?”

Her students nodded earnestly, agreeing and pulling out their datapads to take notes. Hera looked up at the holoprojector screen with her first lecture slide floating in the air.

“Alright, then,” Hera said. “Let’s begin.”

* * *

Hera sat at her desk, hands folded and watching her students take the quiz on the datapad. She’d never had her class be so attentive before, every one of them sitting up straight and taking notes. She was honestly surprised- she really didn’t think this would be  _ that _ much of an incentive. She was sure that at least one student would get an eight, as that tended to be the average for quizzes, but with the amount of attention her students had paid this class… well, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

She hadn’t actually planned on showing her wedding holographs to her students. She’d hold up her end of the deal of course, if they succeeded, but she hadn’t thought they would until now.

The first student’s score came in- ten. But that student always got tens. Then a couple more came in a few minutes later- all tens, one nine.

_ Great _ , Hera thought to herself.  _ Kanan is gonna think this is hilarious. _

Over the next few minutes more and more scores came in- mostly nines, but a sizable amount of tens, too. Way more than usual. Only one student was left taking the quiz, and Hera waited patiently. As a professor, she of course hoped the student did well- she really did want all of her students to do well, and become great, successful pilots.

Then there was the small part of her that just wanted one eight.

Hera datapad dinged.

Nine.

She sighed.

“Congratulations, class,” she said. “Everybody got a nine or higher.”  
There were some understated celebratory laughter and cheers once Hera said that, and she suppressed a groan before pulling up the album on her datapad.

“Alright, let’s start then. Anyone who doesn’t care to see this is free to go.”

None of them left, and Hera plugged the datapad in to the holoprojector, and the first hologram appeared- it was during the ceremony, Kanan and Hera holding hands, facing each other while Zeb spoke in between them. Hera went through each picture with her class, many of her students having comments along the way- mostly about how nice she looked in her dress, a few giggles about how attractive Kanan was that Hera pretended not to hear, and some cooing over Jacen.

It wasn’t really as bad as Hera thought- it was actually nice. They seemed pretty entertained by seeing their professor in something other than her professional clothes or a flight-suit, and she liked connecting with her students. Plus, these were the best marks yet for most of the class.

She’d have to find more holo albums to bribe them with in the future.


	33. Sabine & Ketsu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Hera visit Sabine, who has some news for them.

Kanan had an inkling on why Sabine had asked him and Hera to come visit their apartment on Mandalore, and he could tell that Hera did too. However, neither really talked about their suspicions on the flight over there. Jacen was curled up, sleeping in Kanan’s lap while Hera flew them to the Mandalorian spaceport. Sabine and Ketsu picked them up in a speeder to fly them through the city to their apartment buildings, all three sitting in the back while the girls drove up front. Hera leaned over to Kanan.

“Matching bracelets,” she whispered. Kanan smiled, and gave a small nod.

“What was that?” Ketsu asked. Kanan raised his eyebrows and waited for Hera to answer.

“Oh, uh… I was just saying the city is nice,” Hera said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in the dome before.”

Ketsu seemed satisfied with her answer, and soon they had arrived at the apartment. Kanan gratefully took Hera’s hand as she helped him out of the speeder, and then he reached out with his other hand, which Jacen took. Kanan smiled, and let Hera pull them both to follow Sabine and Ketsu on the way up to their apartment.

“Okay, sit, sit,” Sabine said quickly as soon as they were inside. Kanan could feel excitement mounting within her- yeah, he and Hera definitely had the right idea. They sat down on the couch in their apartment, and Sabine and Ketsu sat across from them.

“We have to tell you something,” Sabine said.

“What is it?” Hera asked. Kanan chuckled- he could practically hear the sly smile on her face.

There was a pause, until finally Sabine broke.

“We’re getting married.”

“That’s amazing,” Kanan said. “We’re so happy for you.”

“Mmhmm,” Hera said. “Congratulations.”

Kanan opened his arms and went forward, and Sabine joined him in a hug- and he felt Hera and Jacen join too.

“Do you guys need any help planning the wedding?” Hera asked. “If- if there is a wedding.”

“There will be,” Ketsu said. “And no, we’re alright.”

“Are you sure?” Kanan asked. “You did so much for our wedding, it’s only fair.”

“We have a vision,” Sabine said. “And we can handle it. But thank you.”

“Alright,” Hera said. “Well, if you do need something-”

“I know, Hera.”

Kanan chuckled. “We need to celebrate, don’t we? What’s a good place to eat around here?”  
“We just got here,” Hera chided.

“No, I’m hungry too,” Sabine said with a laugh. “How about we order something in?”

Kanan nodded. “Sounds good to me. What do you guys have in mind?”

“There’s a really good traditional Mandalorian restaurant that delivers a few buildings down,” Ketsu said. “Best uj cake you’ll ever have.”

“Oh, and their stews,” Sabine said. “Yes, that sounds great. You want to order?”

“Yeah,” Ketsu said. “Gimme a minute, I’ll go get the comm.”

Kanan heard Ketsu’s footsteps fade away as she went to presumably find their comm to order the food.”

“So,” Kanan said. “Are you gonna invite Zeb and Ezra to tell them?”

“I called Zeb first,” Sabine said sheepishly. “I was just really excited. Ezra is coming over next week, I’ll tell him then.”

“We’re really happy for you, Sabine,” Hera said. “Right, Jacen?”

Jacen giggled. “Yeah.”

Kanan couldn’t help but chuckle. He was sure that Jacen was just more excited for another party like his and Hera’s wedding than he was actually aware of what it meant for Sabine.

“And of course, we love you,” Kanan said. “And we’re really proud of you- not just for this, but for everything you’ve done.”

“Ugh so corny,” Sabine said. “What’s taking Ketsu so long?”

Kanan and Hera both laughed- but he could feel the warmth coming from Sabine, and knew that she reciprocated the feeling. And though Hera couldn’t sense with the Force, he knew that she knew too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this fic! But don't worry, there's still one more up my arsenal for this series, with plenty more fluff and fun for the Syndullas.


End file.
